Kill the Other World
by dragonliege242
Summary: Two years ago, two worlds connected, sending a boy from one to the other. Two years later, they connected again, bringing people who were in search of that boy to bring him home.
1. Prologue: Worlds Collide

*BZZZZZZZZZZZZZ*

Lubbock, a young man with green hair and green eyes, started when his Teigu, Cross Tail, started to rapidly wind, relaying a message to him in a way that only he, its user, could understand.

"Uh, Najenda-san, I think we have a problem." He spoke up, even at the risk of disrupting the meeting.

"What is it, Lubbock?" Najenda, a buxom woman with short silver hair, a purple left eye, the right covered by an eyepatch, and a prosthetic right arm, asked, not reacting at being interrupted as she briefed the group on their next mission.

"My barrier has detected an intruder nearby. And whoever it is is getting closer to the base."

Najenda frowned.

Night Raid was a subsidiary of the Revolutionary Army, currently the largest group in the country that was opposing the current regime.

A gathering of the strongest assassins within the Revolutionary Army, armed with Teigu, with Najenda at its helm, tasked with eliminating the corrupt within the Empire's echelons.

And as assassins, it was imperative that they kept their base of operations hidden from their enemies.

Which was why it was a concern that someone was approaching them.

Normally, she would have assumed that it was a group of reasonably skilled mercenaries that the Empire hired to track them down, much like the one from just a few weeks ago, when their newest member, Tatsumi had just joined, but…

"Just one?"

There was no way anyone sane would attack Night Raid by themselves, not when its ranks were filled with infamous killers like '100 Men Slayer' Bulat and 'One Cut Killer' Akame.

So, not a mercenary group.

Najenda feared for a moment that it was the Empire's Strongest Soldier, Esdeath herself, who was coming after returning from subjugating the rebellious Northern Tribes, but she dismissed the thought.

As monstrously skilled as Esdeath was, even she couldn't get from northern lands of a continent spanning more than tens of thousands of kilometers to its center in less than a day.

So, an unknown then?

"Yeah, and…I think they're injured. The threads they're passing are getting weighed down by some sticky liquid, so they're either covered from head to toe in oil, or they're bleeding."

Cross Tail whirled again.

"And they just collapsed."

Najenda's frown deepened, as did the rest of the group's.

"Could be a civilian who was attacked by a Danger Beast." Bulat, a tall and heavily built man with blue eyes and black hair styled into a pompadour, reasoned.

"Didn't we chase most of them out when we got the base?" Leone, a scantily clad woman with yellow eyes, blond hair and a curvaceous body, commented.

"Some are still hanging around. Otherwise, we would have a shortage of food."

As one, all eyes shifted to a teenage girl with straight waist length black hair and red eyes.

Akame frowned lightly, which was not really much of a change from her usual blank expression.

"…What?"

"Nothing. Anyway, what should we do? This could be a trap, for all we know. The intruder could be a member of some mercenary group, or they're being used as bait for us." Mine, a petite teenage girl with pink eyes and pink hair tied into twin tails, her head and limbs wrapped in bandages, replied just a little too quickly as she turned to look back at their leader.

"Hm…" Najenda let out a hum as she considered their options.

Mine was indeed correct.

It was certainly possible that there were others who had coincidentally stopped outside the thread barrier Lubbock had set up.

Should they ignore it?

If they did, they might give up and leave…

…No, if it was hostiles, it was better to deal with them now.

"Akame, Leone, circle around the forest and approach from the other direction. If there are hostiles around, take care of them. Tatsumi, Lubbock, you two spring the trap, if there is one. Bulat, you're with Tatsumi and Lubbock, but use Incursio's invisibility to stay hidden. Mine, you're still injured, so you're staying here with me…"

"Wait, boss, if there are enemies, they might have snipers too! I should go along…"

"Out of the question. You aren't in any condition to be running around. And you can't fire Pumpkin with your arms like that." Najenda cut Mine off immediately.

"But…"

"No buts. You're staying here. The rest of you, go. Now." The former general said with a tone of finality that left no room for argument.

"Don't worry, Mine. You just stay here and relax. We'll do your job for you." Tatsumi, a teenage boy with brown hair and green eyes, said with a grin as he patronizingly pat Mine's head, payback for all the times she had made fun of him since he joined.

She immediately retaliated by kicking him in his chin.

"Buwagh!?"

"Shut up and go already, newbie! Ow, ow, ow…" Mine roared before she grimaced, her body aching from the sudden movement.

A grumbling Tatsumi, still gingerly rubbing his bruised chin, found himself walking through the forest surrounding the base, with Lubbock and Bulat, the latter clad in his armor-type Teigu and invisible, beside him.

"That damn imp…"

"You two just love pushing each other's buttons, huh?" Lubbock commented with a wide grin.

"She makes fun of me, and it's all fun and games. I return the favor one time and almost get a concussion for it." The country boy grumbled.

"The whole 'doing her job for her' shtick was kind of a low blow though." Bulat noted.

Tatsumi grimaced, a bit of regret tinging his expression.

Considering the circumstances under which she had gotten her injuries, he admitted that he might have gone too far.

"Yeah…I'll apologize to her when we get back." He conceded.

"Good kid. Now, how about I kiss that boo boo of yours better?"

A chill ran down Tatsumi's spine at Bulat's offer.

Leone had told him when he first joined that Bulat was gay, but he himself had neither confirmed nor denied it.

And he could never tell whether any of his advances were serious or just to mess with him.

He had nothing against homosexuals, but he was straight himself.

"Look sharp. We're almost there." Lubbock said as he straightened.

Tatsumi and Bulat did the same, the light atmosphere rapidly dissipating and replaced with a much more serious one.

Tatsumi kept a hand on the hilt of his short sword and Bulat brought out Incursio's spear auxiliary armament, Neuntote.

They kept moving forward and soon came across a prone figure on the ground, blood pooling beneath him.

Some of the nearby threads that Lubbock had spun as part of the detection barrier were covered in the red life fluid as well, slackening from the weight of the liquid.

It looked like the aftermath of one of their messier missions to be honest.

They stopped a distance away from the body, just far enough to not be able to make out any features.

They tensed, waiting for the other shoe to drop and bullets to start flying.

They waited…and waited…and waited…

Tatsumi's grip on his sword loosened just a little.

"…Lubbock, your barrier picking up anything?" Bulat asked.

"Nothing other than us and the guy lying there."

"Tatsumi, what about you?"

"…Nope. I can't sense anyone around us." Tatsumi said.

"Me neither." Bulat said as he dropped his invisibility, but kept Incursio activated.

"Akame! Leone! How about you two!?" He called out into the forest.

The two girls landed in front of them, Leone's hair lengthened and messy, with two golden-furred feline ears atop her head and a tail growing out from behind her.

The effects of her transformation type Teigu, Lionelle, which gave her beastlike capabilities and an appearance to match.

Akame was holding onto a red-hilted katana that gave off an ominous aura.

The Teigu that inspired her title.

Sword type Teigu, Ichizan Hisatsu, Death in One Cut: Murasame.

It was a deadly katana that released a cursed poison with no countermeasures into the opponent's body through even the smallest cut.

It made its way to the heart in seconds and stopped the vital organ, resulting in the opponent's death.

It, and her, was Night Raid's trump card against the Empire.

"Nope, didn't find anyone either. So, I think we can safely say that this isn't a trap of some kind?"

"…Maybe. Let's check the body before we rush to conclusions."

They moved cautiously towards the prone figure on the ground, keeping an eye out for any possible traps.

It wouldn't be funny for seasoned assassins to get caught by a simple pitfall.

Especially if said pitfall was filled with sharp objects at the bottom.

They inched closer and closer, until they could properly make out the person lying on the ground bleeding to death.

"…What is he wearing?" Tatsumi voiced the question that was on everyone's minds.

It wasn't that the one lying on the ground appeared to be a teenage boy no older than Tatsumi, possibly younger.

Or that he had blue hair, which was matted with coagulated blood.

It was his odd attire, which consisted of a vest filled with pouches over a shirt and a pair of pants with a roughly equal ratio of shades of green to brown.

It was unlike anything they had ever seen.

"…Bulat." Akame spoke, prompting the armored man to move forward and check the body.

Donned in adaptive armor, he was the best one to check the possibly booby-trapped body.

Bulat looked him over.

The boy was covered in wounds, both cuts and bullet holes.

It was frankly amazing that he was still alive.

He didn't think he would see tenacity like this outside of Night Raid or the Empire's strongest.

And judging by the considerable muscle development at such a young age…he didn't seem to be a mere civilian.

The items he found on him supported that theory too.

"…No traps, as far as I can tell. But, I did find these in the pouches." Bulat said as he showed them several box-shaped and cylindrical objects.

"Are those…magazines for firearms and bombs?"

"Looks like it. But, I've never seen bullets like this before. Nor bombs like this."

Bulat extracted a bullet from the magazine and looked it over before doing the same with the bombs(?).

Assuming they were what they thought they were, they sure as hell didn't look like the ones the Empire used.

"This is looking more and more suspicious. Think this guy is a soldier?"

His attire was vaguely reminiscent of a soldier's uniform, though the design and the vest itself were unfamiliar to them.

"If he is, I don't think he's from the Empire. Our spies never reported anything like this. And even if they missed something, I think we would know of someone important enough to get their hands on the Empire's new threads."

"…So, what should we do with him?"

"…Wait for him to wake up and interrogate him?"

"At the rate that he's losing blood, I think he would die before waking up."

"What do you want to do, bring him back to headquarters? Boss would lose her shit. She got pissed at us for bringing you back and you were just a country bumpkin, not a possible soldier loaded with brand spanking new shit that we don't even know about."

Tatsumi looked offended at being called a country bumpkin for a moment, but no one really paid attention.

"So, what? We kill him now? We don't know if he's our enemy or not."

"The fact that he's even here is suspicious as hell. What are the odds that a possible soldier just happened to stumble into our territory?"

They went back and forth among themselves like this for a bit, and then Tatsumi noticed that Akame, who had not said anything on the matter, looked like she was itching to, but was holding back.

"Something wrong, Akame?"

"…It's nothing. It's just that…if Sheele were here, she would want to help him unless he had proven himself an enemy."

The mood visibly dropped when she spoke that name.

Sheele was a member of Night Raid, but had lost her life to save Mine from an enemy Teigu user while returning from a mission, the same incident that gave the latter her injuries.

She was clumsy, airheaded and untalented at anything aside from killing, but she was one of them and they missed her dearly.

They acknowledged that deaths were inevitable in their line of work, and that they probably deserved it for what they did, but it didn't stop them from mourning.

And if she were here now…Akame was right, she would want to help the dying boy.

She was gentle that way, only unforgiving to those who had proven themselves to be beyond salvation.

She was gone, but…they could still keep her memory alive.

"…Alright. We'll take him back to base and treat him. If he is an enemy, we'll deal with him then, but not before."

Bulat picked the boy up in his arms.

Najenda was definitely going to be pissed, but she would understand.

She was strict but not unkind.

Akame and Leone did another sweep of the area to make sure that there was really no one else around, and once they were done, they began the trek back to base.

They did not know it then, but that choice that day would earn them a fiercely loyal and valued member of the group.

* * *

"Uwooooooooooooh!" Tatsumi roared as he tore through the Ice Cavalry that Esdeath had created and deployed against the Revolutionary Army.

Neuntote was a streak of pitch black as it smashed one frozen horseman after another.

His entire body ached and protested under the strain that the evolved Incursio was putting it under, but he paid it no mind.

This was the last mission.

They had gone through so much, lost so many to get to this point

This was the last push needed to topple the corrupt Empire once and for all.

Holding back was not an option, not when they were so close.

He scoured the battlefield, searching for his target…

…Found her.

Esdeath, a devastatingly beautiful woman with light blue hair and eyes of a darker shade, atop a horse of ice, charging through the ranks.

There wasn't a single member of the Revolutionary Army who was enthralled by her beauty, for they all knew that beneath that façade was a ruthless, relentless, immoral mass murderer and warmonger.

The natural born killer was charging straight towards where the commander of the Revolutionary Army had set up his command post.

Tatsumi would not let her get there.

He crossed the distance between them in an instant and smashed right through her frozen steed.

A look of surprise crossed her features for a moment before she grinned widely as she realized who her opponent was.

"So, finally come out to play, Tatsumi!? I've been dreaming for this moment for a long time!" She declared as she leapt towards him with her rapier in hand.

She thrust her blade towards him, which he deflected with a swing of his black spear.

However, just as quickly as he had deflected it, she was attacking again, forcing him on the defensive, deflecting all of the thrusts she sent his way.

Unreal.

Even with the power that the evolved Incursio was giving him, he was still just barely keeping up with her.

Damn monster…!

But, that was fine.

He was on the verge of losing his humanity too, after all.

His hand shot out between the barrage of attacks and gripped Esdeath's other arm tightly.

The grin on her face vanished.

"I've got you!" Tatsumi roared as he thrust Neuntote towards her eyes.

"Foolish boy. Do you even understand what it means to come in contact with me?"

"!?"

Before Tatsumi could move back, she had already tapped a finger on the hand holding her in place.

Immediately, he was frozen in a block of ice.

Not that it did much, considering Incursio had already adapted to her ice.

He smashed out of it in the next moment and moved backwards, breathing heavily.

The sudden stop to his assault had cut the adrenaline rush, and his accumulated fatigue began to catch up to him.

"What's wrong, Tatsumi!? It's too soon for you to be tired out! I'm not even warmed up yet!" Esdeath declared as she stalked towards him with a predatory grin plastered on her face.

Tatsumi clicked his tongue and prepared to engage her again.

He held no illusions that he could defeat her, but that wasn't the point.

As long as Akame and Leone were able to finish up on their end, this war was as good as theirs.

He just had to hold out until then.

Even if it was Esdeath, surely even she couldn't hold her own against an army of more than 100000, along with a squad of more than 10 Teigu users.

"Here I come, Tatsumi!" Esdeath shouted as she charged at him.

Tatsumi braced himself, and paused when a bolt of lightning crashed into Esdeath's side.

The Empire's Strongest had barely enough time to put a layer of ice in between to protect herself.

"The hell took you so long?" Tatsumi halfheartedly complained to the person who landed beside him.

"Sorry, those Ice Cavalry of hers are a pain in the ass when they attack in droves and keep regenerating without end."

Tatsumi turned to look at his comrade.

A well-built young man around his age with white hair and glowing blue eyes, his upper clothes torn apart to reveal his sculpted body and the 9-shaped jewel embedded in his chest, wielding a massive transparent sword in one hand, with an equally large metal discus floating behind him.

It was hard to believe that just a few months ago, he was only slightly taller than Mine was, and not much larger in build.

This war had truly taken its toll on all of them.

"It's time to put an end to this, Tatsumi."

"Yeah. Let's go, Yuu!"

The Dragon and the War God charged at the Ice Demon.

* * *

It was a true testament to Esdeath's monstrous power that the only signs that she was in a fierce battle with Night Raid's physically strongest were her damaged uniform and the dirt covering parts of her skin in small patches.

Yuu and Tatsumi did not have any wounds either, but they were visibly more worn out than she was.

"How long has it been since I last felt a rush like this!? As expected of the man I chose and the only one who has ever drawn blood from me! I'll enjoy taking the two of you apart!" Esdeath gleefully declared as she brandished her rapier once more.

The two Night Raid members scowled as they prepared to engage once more.

*GONG*

A loud sound reverberated throughout the battlefield, causing all movement to halt.

Esdeath herself had turned back to look at the capital in surprise.

"The signal to withdraw!?"

Yuu and Tatsumi both started when they heard her.

The Empire was ordering their troops to withdraw from the frontlines?

Why?

Was it because the troops that had broken through the northern side had caused so much damage?

Yuu had a bad feeling about this.

Esdeath laughed as she created another ice horse and mounted it.

"Well done, you two! You managed to stall me! Let us meet again soon!"

And on that note, she rode off back to the capital.

The troops behind them let out collective sounds of triumph at the sight of the Empire's Strongest retreating.

Yuu did not share their celebratory mood.

Something was off.

He could feel it.

"Good work, you two. Thanks to you distracting Esdeath, we were able to destroy the citadel's gates." Najenda said as she rode up to them.

"Yeah…we did it…though it's taken a bit of a toll on me…" Tatsumi said between heavy breaths.

Both Yuu and Najenda looked at him with worried expressions.

"Oi, are you really alright keeping Incursio on like that?"

"Yeah…if anything…it actually feels easier…to keep it on…so much more…comfortable…"

They silently cursed.

His condition was worsening.

Incursio's fusion with his body was advancing further and further.

"I have no doubt that my body will be broken after this, but…if it means bringing about an era of peace, that's a small price to pay. All I need is a little bit of strength left to continue protecting Mine. I'll see this through to the very end, so that we cry shouts of victory!"

Yuu and Najenda directed sorrowful looks at him.

"…Don't worry. This war is as good as over. Even if their forces rush to protect the palace now, it's already…too…late…"

Najenda and Yuu hit a realization at the same time.

That's right.

It was already too late.

There was no point in protecting the palace when it was already this far gone.

Esdeath, being the warmonger she was, should know better than anyone else.

So why did she so easily obey the order to retreat?

"O-Oi, what is that…?"

"That strange looking thing over there…"

The troops closest to them pointed towards the capital.

The three Night Raid members looked in that direction…and gaped at what they saw.

A massive armored humanoid figure towering over the rest of the capital, unimaginably massive.

"What the hell is that…!?"

The chest plate of the giant opened up, and revealed an eye embedded in its sternum.

It flashed for a moment, and then a massive beam of light shot out and soared right past them before they could react.

They turned and were horrified by the scene before them.

Where hundreds of troops once stood was now only a massive groove in the ground, everything unfortunate enough to have been caught in the beam vaporized instantly.

They did not have time to gape in horror for much longer, because the massive humanoid started launching salvos of missiles at them, devastating their ranks.

Allies fell on after another.

The lucky ones were killed instantly.

The unlucky ones had to endure excruciating wounds, or had to bear witness as their loved ones died.

Yuu scowled, dark fury rising to the surface.

This…this was no way for anyone to meet their maker.

Both he and Tatsumi kicked off the ground at the same time, heading straight towards the monster annihilating them.

He only hoped they would make it in time.

* * *

Yuu swung Ame-no-Murakumo at the same time that Tatsumi punched the Supreme Teigu.

The combined assault knocked the massive secret weapon of the Empire backwards.

It was working.

It was a slow process, but they were wearing it down.

As long as they kept pressing it and stopped it from retaliating, victory was theirs…

"Shikoutazer! Activate your Trump Card!"

Yuu and Tatsumi, and even the Emperor, piloting the Supreme Teigu, stopped when they heard the Prime Minister, the source of all the evil that plagued the Empire, called out.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The massive Teigu let out a horrendous sound as its body parts shifted, bubbled and twisted.

"What is this!? What's going here, Honest!?" The Emperor screamed.

It seemed even he had no idea what was going on.

The massive Teigu finally stopped moving and revealed its new, gruesome form.

Gone were most of the metal plates covering its body, replaced by massive muscles and sinew.

Eyes had appeared on its shoulders and knees as well as on its face.

And its mouthpiece was gone, revealing a mouth and teeth not unlike a lamprey's.

It was something straight out of a nightmare.

"…You fools who dare to oppose my great Empire…I shall rain judgement down upon all of you!" The Emperor roared in a manic voice, a far cry from its formerly meek and unsure state.

Lasers and missiles shot out from all over Shikoutazer's now mostly organic body and bombarded everything in sight.

It wasn't just the Revolutionary Army that had been struck.

The rest of the capital…even his own citizens and soldiers had not been spared by the indiscriminate barrage.

But, he was not done yet.

"Behold, the light that shall shine down upon the Empire's new age!"

A ball of black mass began to gather at the eye embedded in the massive Teigu's chest.

Yuu could immediately tell that it was dangerous unlike anything else he had ever seen.

Knowing that, he leapt in front of it just as it was fired.

"Yata-no-Kagami!"

The metal discus that had been behind him shifted in front of him, and a circle of light appeared in the hole in the middle.

The shield of absolute reflection.

If he could throw this back at Shikoutazer, it would be over in an instant.

But, the moment the black mass hit the mirror and the sheer gravity it exuded began to pull him in, he realized he had miscalculated.

Yata-no-Kagami immediately began to absorb it, but it had too much power behind it.

He wasn't sure if he could reflect this.

But at the very least, he couldn't let it hit anyone…

He angled himself upwards, trying to keep it from pushing him towards their allies.

He was pushed further and further back by the supergravitational singularity, until he felt his back hit the ground.

He was in one of the palace's many courtyards.

And he was getting crushed into the ground.

Yuu poured more and more effort into pushing back against the attack, but if it was doing anything, it was too miniscule for it to be noticeable.

And then the ground started to glow.

"What the fu-!?"

Unbeknownst to him, the courtyard he had landed in just happened to be where Shura, the now deceased son of the Prime Minister, had used his space-manipulating Teigu, Shambala, to teleport Tatsumi and Lubbock straight into the palace for capturing.

The teleportation circle was still engraved in the ground.

Shambala was destroyed, so it was no longer active.

Not until the massive energy pouring out from the clash between him and the singularity gave it enough juice to reactivate.

But that was not all that was happening.

The sheer gravity of the mass was distorting the local spacetime.

And with the teleportation circle already weakening the local dimension, a distortion in the fabric of space and time began to rip itself open right beneath him.

And seemlessly, both Yuu and the singularity fell through it, disappearing from sight.

Much to Tatsumi's horror.

"Yuu!"

But there was no answer.

All that remained of his comrade was the tear in reality that was slowly shrinking.

"Well, that was unexpected. No matter. Your Majesty, fire again!"

"STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!"

It was too late.

Another supergravitional singularity shot out, and this time, Yuu wasn't around to stop it.

It landed right outside the northern end of the capital, creating a black hole that drew everything around it in before detonating, generating an explosion far more massive than this world had ever seen.

Despite himself, Tatsumi could feel despair seeping into his bones.

* * *

Mononobe Mitsuki was nervous.

Scratch that, she was terrified.

As a member of the Dragon Subjugation Squad, she had naturally gone through multiple training sessions and simulations to prepare for exactly this kind of scenario.

But there was a pretty big difference between fighting a Dragon that you knew was a hologram and couldn't actually hurt you, and fighting an actual Dragon that had been plaguing humanity for two and a half decades.

It didn't help that her best friend, Shinomiya Miyako, a pretty black haired, hazel eyed girl, was out of sorts, staring blankly off into the distance, in the direction that Purple Kraken was approaching from.

She was normally confident and upbeat, so seeing her like this really didn't do much to reassure her.

Especially since the Dragon they were facing wielded the 'Absolute Defense' and 'Absolute Offense', Mithril and Antimatter.

"All personnel, battle stations! Purple Kraken is approaching! ETA is 2 minutes!" Shinomiya Haruka, the Captain of the Dragon Subjugation Squad and Miyako's older sister, announced through their communications network.

She could see it, even in the darkness of night.

A purple mass, rapidly moving across the ocean surface towards them, just a few kilometers away and closing in fast.

Her Fictional Armament, Brionac, an ornate bow, appeared in her hands as they prepared to engage the Purple Dragon.

At least, that was the plan.

But then, the sky split open, just above the Dragon.

It was so sudden that even the Kraken stopped, its single eye rolling upwards to look at the abnormality.

A prismatic…rift…of some sort had torn open in the skies above.

And from it, a humanoid figure fell, followed by a huge disc and a giant ball of pitch black.

Mitsuki blinked.

What was going on?

The humanoid figure and the disc were pressed downwards by the ball, inching closer and closer to the Kraken.

And to them as well.

And just as they were just a few meters above sea level, the disc shattered resoundingly, and the ball exploded spectacularly.

The force of the explosion blew all of them back, even though they were far away enough to not get caught in the actual explosion.

Mitsuki tumbled through the air before she was thrown clear far enough that it didn't interfere with her air generation and resulting flight.

The Kraken screamed in agony, its prided mithril tentacles annihilated by the near point blank explosion, and its eye bleeding profusely.

The 'Absolute Defense' was gone, and the 'Absolute Offence' was damaged.

"All personnel, attack the Kraken immediately! Don't let this chance go to waste!"

Haruka's voice came over her earpiece, which had somehow remained intact even after that cataclysmic explosion.

As one, the Dragon Subjugation Squad fired their most powerful attacks at the heavily injured Purple Dragon, not allowing it any room to retaliate or even escape.

It wasn't long before one of the 7 Dragons plaguing the world let out its death cry, and without much fanfare, its maimed carcass sank below the surface.

Mitsuki continued to keep her bow raised, ready to be proven wrong and for the Kraken to come bursting out of the water with a vengeance.

Nothing happened.

"…The Kraken is dead! I repeat, the Kraken is dead!"

Cheers erupted from the members of the Dragon Subjugation Squad, relishing in the success of their very first sortie.

Beside her, Miyako finally seemed to snap out of whatever daze she had been in.

"Well, that was anticlimactic, huh?"

Mitsuki did not reply immediately.

Ever since that tear had opened up in the sky, her heart had been aching, and she didn't know why.

It wasn't a physical pain, but an emotional one.

What was going on with her?

"Shinomiya-senpai, report!"

"What is it?"

"A-A body just washed on Midgard's shores. It's…ugh…! It's really bad!"

"What!?"

Chatter came across the earpiece, almost deafening her with the sheer noise before she muted it.

A body had washed up on Midgard?

How?

Who?

No member of the Dragon Subjugation Squad had been killed, or even wounded, aside from whatever injuries they might have gotten from the explosion…

…The explosion!

That's right, that ball had not been the only thing that had come through the tear.

Someone had come through it as well.

Someone who seemed to have tried and failed to stop the ball from detonating.

That body must be theirs.

"All personnel, stay where you are. No one is to move until I'm done investigating this." Haruka ordered the rest of the squad before flying back towards the fortified island.

"Hey, Mitsuki, let's go check it out!" Miyako said with a grin.

"What!? But, Haruka-san said…"

"It's fine, it's fine. At worst, she'll just make us write reflection essays as punishment as usual."

"You know that most of us hate doing that, right?"

"Oh, quit bellyaching and let's go already!" Miyako said as she seized Mitsuki's hand and dragged her along.

"Hey, wait-I can fly on my own!"

The two of them quickly made their way to the island.

Despite Haruka's orders, several overly curious members of the Squad had gotten the same idea as them and were now being yelled at for their troubles.

A fate that they would soon share.

They landed near the body, and immediately, Haruka, an older and taller girl who bore a strong resemblance to Miyako, rounded on them to start delivering a tirade.

"You two too!? I already expected as much from Miyako, but Mononobe Mitsuki, I'm very disappointed!"

"Oh, lay off, Onee-chan. Half the Squad is already here, and the other half is probably already on their way."

"Oh, for the love of…!"

As more and more members of the Squad disobeyed orders and landed on the beach, Haruka delivered a tongue lashing to all of them.

But, Mitsuki was not paying attention.

She had completely frozen upon seeing the bloodied, broken body lying on the sandy shores of Midgard.

A teenage boy with a well-built body, what remained of his clothes burnt and in tatters.

But what had caught her attention was his blue hair.

 _His very familiar blue hair._

Mitsuki's hands clapped over her mouth in an effort to suppress the bile trying to make its way out of her throat.

"Mitsuki? What's wrong?" Miyako asked, concerned at her best friend's reaction.

Mitsuki could barely hear her.

She could not tear her eyes away from the body.

"…Nii-san?"

Murmurs ran through the gathered crowd.

"Nii-san? You have a brother?" Miyako repeated in confusion.

"Mononobe Mitsuki, are you sure this is your brother?" Haruka asked sharply.

No, she wasn't.

He was taller, he had a broader build, his muscles were more toned and defined, and his hair was longer, just past shoulder-length.

He looked completely different from the Mononobe Yuu she remembered, but it had been almost a full year since she last saw him.

It was possible for him to have had a growth spurt in that time.

There was one way to be absolutely certain.

"The back…the back of his left hand. Please check it." She requested shakily.

She would do it herself, but if she got any closer to that mangled body, she might just throw up.

Haruka moved forward and gingerly turned the body's left hand over so that the back faced them.

It took some time for her to locate even though she knew exactly where it was, mostly because it was obscured by burns and wounds, but there it was.

"This is…I see. There is no doubt about it, Mononobe Mitsuki. This is your brother, Mononobe Yuu." Haruka said, locating the same mark that Mitsuki had.

Miyako leaned over to take a closer look, cringing at the smell of burnt flesh.

"Is that…a Ryumon?"

" _Dammit, Miyako!"_ Mitsuki cursed mentally as the murmurs around them escalated into shocked chatter.

It was a natural response.

A Ryumon was the mark of a D, a human who possessed the same power as the Black Dragon, Black Vritra, Dark Matter Generation.

However, only girls could be Ds.

This was a fact supported by more than 2 decades worth of evidence and observations.

A male D was completely unprecedented.

The only ones who were aware of Yuu's status as a D were Mitsuki, their parents, the family doctor, Haruka, the Principal of Midgard, Charlotte B. Lord, and her assistant, Mica Stuart.

The principal had declared a gag order on this information, because if word got out, there would be panic.

The age when Ds were treated as monsters had passed, but some still believed in the supposition, mostly violent, anti-Dragon extremists.

If they got word that it was possible for males to become Ds as well, who knew how they would react?

Well, it looked like the cat was out of the bag now, at least as far as Midgard was concerned.

Hopefully, the principal could put a plug on things before news spread outside.

Under normal circumstances, Mitsuki would be elated beyond belief that her brother was here.

She had been looking for him for so long, since the day he had been taken by NIFL following his defeat of Blue Hekatonkheir.

And she was happy even now.

But that happiness was overshadowed by the horror at the extent of the injuries on his person.

Wounds of that severity would have killed an ordinary human.

The only sign that he was still alive was the irregular movement of his torso, signifying breathing, which was a miracle in itself.

"Someone bring a stretcher! He's in serious need of medical attention!" Haruka called out to the stunned group.

Not a single soul moved.

Not until she barked the order again at a much greater volume.

Several people ran towards the school while other hovered around, staring at her brother like he was an exotic animal.

In a sense, she supposed that was true.

"…Ma…"

It was so faint that Mitsuki had barely heard it.

But she did.

Yuu had just murmured something.

Gathering up her courage and suppressing her bile, she moved forward and knelt by his side.

"Nii-san?" She called out to him.

She didn't want him to respond.

She hoped he was still unconscious.

If he was lucid, she couldn't even imagine how much agony he was in.

Unfortunately, she didn't get her wish.

His hand clenched in the sand, balling into a fist.

Unbelievably, he began to push himself upwards.

"…Ma…ga…"

"Nii-san, stop! You need to stay still, or you'll aggravate your wounds!"

For a moment, she contemplated creating a sedative and using it on him, but she wasn't sure how to make one.

A limitation of Dark Matter Generation and Transmutation was that if a D wanted to create something, they needed a clear image of it.

"…Maga…tama…2nd…Manifest…ation…!"

A great force vented itself from her brother's broken body, blowing the crowd backwards as a dense aura of white energy manifested around him.

Mitsuki just gawked at the sight.

His hair bleached out and turned white, his blue eyes started glowing, and his muscles…well, they didn't change, but they were very, very nice to look at…

…What!? He had filled out nicely in the time she hadn't seen him!

She wasn't ashamed to admit it, as evidenced by the huge blush on her cheeks.

At least until she caught sight of that thing that was embedded into his chest.

Then her admiration turned to horror once more.

And perhaps most shockingly of all, all of his injuries healed, vanishing as though they were never there to begin with.

Soon, a completely unscathed Mononobe Yuu stood tall on the beach.

Mitsuki absentmindedly noted that she barely reached up to his sternum anymore when just little less than a year ago, they were roughly the same height.

She also noticed that she was not the only one who had turned bright red.

All of the girls present had as well.

Midgard was basically an isolation zone, so most of the girls here did not have much experience with males their age.

And now, there was one almost naked and, in her opinion, strikingly handsome, male standing amongst them.

She would have been surprised if they hadn't blushed.

Not that that knowledge did anything to assuage the spike of jealousy she felt.

She was about to round on them and proclaim her territory, when her brother hunched over, as though he was about to fall over.

"Nii-san!"

She moved forward to try and catch him, but at that moment, a golden light appeared in his hand and instantly solidified into a massive sword that looked like it was made of stained glass, using it as a crutch to keep himself upright even as he breathed raggedly.

What was that?

As a D, she knew exactly what Dark Matter Generation and Transmutation was, and that had not been it.

The sword had literally come out of nowhere.

Yuu turned around and looked up at the slowly shrinking tear in the sky.

"Hold on…a little longer, guys…I'm heading back now…"

Realizing that he was leaving, Mitsuki rushed forward, trying to stop him, but…

"Raijin Shorai!"

In addition to the dense energy already surrounding him, an additional coating of electricity had appeared around his person, causing the sand he was standing on to turn into glass from the sheer heat.

She couldn't get close without getting shocked.

He kicked off the ground and ascended rapidly into the air, towards the tear.

She quickly chased after him, but he was much faster than she was.

"Wait, Nii-san…!" She called out, stretching a hand out in an effort to reach him.

It was too late.

He already went through the tear, which shut before she could get to it.

She stared listlessly at the spot where it had been, tears beginning to well up.

It happened again.

Once again, she had failed to reach him.

And now she was back to square one, without the slightest inkling as to where he was now.

She could not stop the heartbroken wail that tore its way out of her throat.

* * *

"What's wrong? Tired out already? Even with that instant death blade in your hands?" Esdeath asked Akame mockingly.

Night Raid's trump card was panting heavily, covered in cuts all over her body, whereas Esdeath had yet to receive a single wound.

Even with the powerful performance enhancing drugs she had taken just before engaging her, she was still barely able to match Esdeath blow for blow.

"I supposed you did manage to entertain me. Well then, what should I do once I have quelled this little rebellion of yours? Shall I head over to another land in search of a war? Or perhaps…I'll just start one myself."

It was an obvious attempt at provocation.

And a very effective one, considering who it was coming from.

Akame snarled.

"You're not going anywhere. I'll see dead right here and now…!" She declared as she assumed another stance, directing all of her murderous intent at the Empire's Strongest.

Esdeath wasn't even fazed.

"And exactly how do you plan on doing that? I don't see Tatsumi or Yuu anywhere. Do you think you can win without them?"

"Don't worry, Esdeath! I think you'll find that we've managed to make up for their absence!"

The Empire's Strongest turned to regard Najenda, who had arrived with the bulk of the Revolutionary Army and every Teigu user they had in their ranks.

"So, Najenda, I hear you have some sort of secret Teigu to counter me?" Esdeath asked casually, as though she was inquiring about something as mundane as the weather.

"Tch, you already know about that…?"

"Of course, you shouldn't underestimate the Empire's spy network. Now, where is this Teigu of yours?"

"The way I see it, I don't think there's a need to bring it out yet."

Because there wasn't one.

There was no secret Teigu that the Revolutionary Army had been keeping up their sleeves to use against Esdeath.

If such a thing really did exist and was in their possession, they would have already used it.

It was a bluff, a carefully devised one, having taken an entire month to carry out by slowly leaking information here and there and let it make its way back to the Empire to divert their attention to something that didn't really exist.

Their secret weapon, from the very beginning, had always been Akame and Murasame.

By now, she had already blended in with the rest of the troops, circling the formation and waiting for the opportunity to strike Esdeath down once and for all.

And with the presence of over 100000 soldiers and more than 10 Teigu users, including Akame, they now had a military force equivalent to a million soldiers.

"Ho, that's some confidence there, Najenda. I can't wait to watch it turn into despair."

"Big talk coming from someone who's fighting alone. The Supreme Teigu has fallen, the Empire's soldiers have surrendered, the key players are dead or dying and your Jaegars are gone. Even your only remaining allies, your own Ice Cavalry have been surrounded and won't be coming to help you anytime soon. We will outlast you in a battle of attrition and crush you with the weight of a million soldiers! It's over, Esdeath! First wave, attack! Second wave, standby! We'll attack in shifts!"

The troops roared and charged at Esdeath, their morale higher than ever before now that victory was right before them.

Esdeath greeted them with a chilling smile.

"Fool. Do you really believe a measly million men is enough to defeat me?"

"What!?"

Esdeath raised a hand and snapped her fingers.

"How about I show my other, anti-army Trump Card? You could say it's a Trump Card I can only use precisely because I stand alone on this battlefield!"

Massive streams of ice flowed through the air from all over the capital to Esdeath.

It didn't take long for Akame to where they were coming from.

All of the power she had distributed to create her Ice Cavalry was now returning to her.

"I meticulously created my Ice Cavalry one by one for the past few days. In other words, they collectively hold several days' worth of power, and every last bit of it is now returning to me! Hyoran Daishogun!"

A pillar of ice erupted into the sky, generating an icy gale that forced everyone else to shut their eyes.

And when they opened them, it was to find a scene straight out of a nightmare.

Massive storm clouds had appeared in the sky, stretching further than they could see in all directions, causing a harsh blizzard to consume the capital and who knows how much else.

The only thing they could do was gape at the frozen hell that had appeared out of nowhere.

"I'm not sure who coined it, but I think you're all familiar with the term 'General Winter'? That is exactly what this is. I have covered a massive portion of this country in ice and snow. It won't just be killing all of you here. Every single one of your allies hiding out somewhere in this country, I will freeze every single one of them to death. So don't think you can drag this out into a battle of attrition. If you all don't attack me like your lives depend on it, you'll freeze to death first!"

"Your direct subordinates are still defending the western borders!? Are you going to just let them get swept up in this!?" Najenda roared in disbelief.

"No need to worry, this storm doesn't reach out that far. I am a little concerned about their friends and family who are closer…but, only just a little." Esdeath said with a serene expression on her face.

That was when they realized it.

They thought that the greatest threat came from Shikoutazer, a weapon capable of attacking the entire capital at once.

But, that was wrong.

The greatest threat had always been Esdeath, who was capable of attacking the world itself.

There was no better description for her than 'natural born killer'.

"The strong will survive this storm and the weak will die. That's all there is to it. I look forward to fighting those who can survive this culling. If you think you are one of them, try proving it to me right now!" Esdeath declared gleefully as she strode purposefully towards them.

"Everyone attack! If we defeat her, we can stop the storm!"

The troops charged recklessly at Esdeath, fueled by desperation.

The first to reach her was one of the Teigu users, a dark-skinned woman with white hair, wielding the Double-Bladed Axe: Belvaac, an immensely heavy battle axe that could only be wielded by someone with considerable physical strength, capable of splitting into two smaller axes that could be thrown and would not stop until they hit their target.

It was once wielded by one of Esdeath's direct subordinates, Daidara of the Three Beastsm until his death at the hands of Bulat.

A normal person would have flinched at the sight of their ally's weapon now in enemy hands, but Esdeath didn't even flinch.

"Just to warn you, with this much ice around me, I can use my abilities to their fullest."

Then, as though to substantiate her statement, Belvaac and its wielder, as well as the troops closest to them, were all immediately frozen in a block of ice mid attack with just a tap of Esdeath's finger.

The rest of the troops stopped in their charge and looked at their frozen comrades, utterly horrified.

Esdeath's power and speed were already monstrous enough before, but now, they had elevated to levels that not even the most skilled amongst them could keep up with.

"Now those are expressions I will savor for a long time. You defeated the Empire. Even if you are not able to achieve victory against me here, your mission is still a success. However…if you don't stop me right here and right now, I can assure you, your fight will never end! So, use every last bit of power at your disposal, or you won't stand even a ghost of a chance!"

Esdeath slapped her palm on the ground, and a tree of ice sprouted upwards, unleash barrages of ice shards in every direction.

"Don't fall back! Hold your ground! Defend yourselves with everything you got!" One of the commanding officers shouted to rally the troops.

However, their mundane shields stood no chance against the power of a Teigu, and one by one, soldiers dropped like flies.

Until a massive dragon appeared and smashed Esdeath's ice tree.

Everyone recognized it in an instant, but it was Esdeath who voiced it.

"Tatsumi…! I see, so this is the price you paid for your transformation! You've turned into an actual dragon!"

Tatsumi responded by breathing a massive stream of fire at her.

She blocked with a thick layer of ice.

Normally, it would have melted instantly under the intense heat, but the blizzard around them had enhanced her ice to the point where even flames of that degree were more of a nuisance than anything else.

"How splendid! This burning love we have will never die out! And now…you will fall by my hands!"

*CRACKLE*

Esdeath's eyes widened for a moment before she threw herself forward, just in time to avoid a brutal stab from Ame-no-Murakumo going at the speed of lightning.

Yuu had rejoined the fight.

Akame shivered slightly as her instincts registered him as a great threat to her life.

That was Yuu's uncanny ability, the ability to seek out the most effective way to kill a human opponent in a fight.

An ability that put him on par with more experienced members of Night Raid, even before he obtained the power he had now, and one that Esdeath had once almost fallen to.

Esdeath had reacted quickly enough to dodge the fatal blow aimed for her spine, but even she was not able to avoid the following kick driven upwards into her gut, causing her to soar into the air.

The first clean blow that anyone had landed on her since the beginning of this final war.

Akame seized the opening and leapt into the air after the warmonger, intending to end the battle with Murasame, but Esdeath had created a sword of ice and parried her blow, forcing her back down.

Esdeath grinned widely as she landed on the ground, blood dribbling from the corners of her mouth.

"Ah, there you are, Yuu! I was wondering where you had gone. Now I have the whole set!"

"Shut the hell up!" Yuu roared as he rained bolts of lightning down on her.

The Empire's Strongest countered by firing frozen spikes of the same size, intercepting them as they fell.

"Stand down, Tatsumi! You've already done enough! Leave the rest to me and Akame!" Yuu shouted to his mutated comrade, taking the words right out of Akame's mouth.

"NOT…YET…I'M NOT…DONE YET…I HAVE TO…STOP THIS STORM…MINE…MUST BE COLD…"

Yuu's expression twisted into one of sorrow, and Akame knew that her own mirrored it.

Even now, at this critical moment, Mine was still all Tatsumi could think of.

"BEFORE MY CONSCIOUSNESS…COMPLETELY VANISHES…BEFORE IT…TAKES OVER…I WANT TO…BE OF USE!"

Tatsumi leapt at Esdeath, who was flawlessly countering the coordinated attacks of four Teigu users.

He slammed a claw downwards, crushing the ground as Esdeath leapt to the side to dodge.

Immediately, the user of Omnipotent Five Senses: Spectator, used his Trump Card, trapping Esdeath in an illusion of the person she loved most as the user of Power Surging: Belzac used the disguise to attack.

Esdeath didn't hesitate for a moment to attack the illusion of Tatsumi, cutting Belzac's user in half, killing him instantly.

She proceeded to let out a battle cry, shattering the illusion completely.

"I've already set my heart on taking Tatsumi's life with my own two hands, so that little parlor trick of yours ended up having the opposite effect."

And with the declaration, she continued carving her way through the Revolutionary Army, even with Tatsumi and Yuu doing their best to stop her.

When a Teigu user brought forth an army of massive Danger Beasts, she simply froze them solid.

When the troops seized the opportunity to attack her, she ripped them apart with a long spiked rod of ice, calling it her personal blender.

When Tatsumi caught it and Ace Solution: Die Leaguer's user attacked, she dodged and stabbed that latter through the brain with her heel.

When Cutter of Creation: Extase's user used her Trump Card to blind her, allowing an opening for the former and three other Teigu users to attack, she dismantled them without even looking at them.

She was just too overwhelming.

There was a certain irony that the only real opening she showed was not due to any of their attacks, but because of her own pride, complacency and overindulgence in bloodshed.

She raised a hand into the air, in the opening stages of a monologue as she prepared to deal a killing blow to the four Teigu users.

And Akame dashed in, her presence suppressed, swiping Murasame across that raised arm, causing an arc of blood to spray out of the cut.

"Wha-!?" Esdeath cried out in shock as black markings began to race from the wound across the rest of her arm.

"I saw an opening and took it. Because that is my mission."

The rest of the troops adopted looks of elation when they saw Akame finally land a blow on Esdeath.

Yuu and Tatsumi dashed in, a lightning-cloaked fist and a massive claw ready as they prepared to be thorough and annihilate Esdeath from the physical-

"Tch…! Mahapadma!"

-plane…Wait.

Akame stared in horror as her two comrades were sent flying past her, their abdomens split open for the whole world to see.

She looked back at Esdeath, to find that the Empire's Strongest had somehow cheated death by severing her own arm below the elbow before the poison could spread any further and was now holding a bloodstained broadsword of ice in her remaining hand.

This was the power of her first Trump Card, Mahapadma, which applied the concept of 'freezing' on the space and time of the area.

By her own admission, even someone as monstrously powerful as Esdeath could not sustain this for any longer than a few seconds, and could only use it once a day, but that scant few seconds was enough to turn the tables.

Tatsumi's Incursio had already developed resistance against her ice, allowing him to ignore the frozen dimension around him.

And under normal circumstances, Yuu would also be able to circumvent it with the heat that his electricity produced, though his lightning speed would be greatly hampered.

However, this time, her Mahapadma was further enhanced by the blizzard that had been blowing, causing the latter to freeze completely and the former to move at a painfully slow pace.

Tatsumi's new bulky body did not help much in that regard either.

The troops quickly charged at her, trying to take advantage of her loss of a limb.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the difference in our powers is still as massive as ever!" Esdeath laughed as she tore into them with renewed vigor.

Akame rushed over to her two fallen comrades.

"Tatsumi, Yuu, hang in there!"

She placed a hand on Tatsumi's organic armored body and froze.

Because she felt something that should not be possible.

She was forced to leap back when Tatsumi suddenly surged back to life and attacked her out of the blue.

No, it wasn't Tatsumi.

It was the Tyrant, the Ultra-Class Danger Beast that Incursio was made out of, still alive even in its current state and trying to use Tatsumi's body as a catalyst to revive itself.

It was what had turned Tatsumi into this beastly form and was now seizing control over it.

It made to grab her, but suddenly stopped short.

"…AKA…ME…KILL…ME…I CAN'T…HOLD ON…ANY…LONGER…! YOU…PRO…MISED…!"

Akame stared at him with a look of grief, thinking back on the moment when she had promised to kill him if he ever lost control of his body to the Tyrant.

She had hoped that it would never come down to this.

But, it had and she was left with no other option.

She had promised him after all.

She schooled her expression back into one of pure neutrality.

"…Very well. I will kill you."

She walked towards Tatsumi's torso and plunged Murasame into his heart.

The human turned dragon collapsed as black markings ran across his massive form.

His eyes closed and his breathing slowly came to a halt.

Akame silently stood over her comrade's body.

She did it again.

Akame had once told Tatsumi that in order for her to activate Murasame's Trump Card, she had to 'discard her humanity'.

For a weapon as bloodthirsty as the One Cut Killing Sword, even the countless lives she had taken, the blood she had shed, was not enough to satisfy it.

However, even then, it had acknowledged her as its wielder.

When she had first laid her hands on Murasame, she had to kill her own friend to do it.

And when left with no other option, she had resolved to kill the little sister she loved so very dearly.

That absolute conviction to 'kill' was exactly why Murasame had chosen her.

And now, once again, she had killed a friend.

And thus, Murasame sang.

A black aura poured out of the blade and soaked into Akame's body.

An explosion of sheer power caught Esdeath's attention, causing her to drop Spectator's user, who she had been about to kill, to face the new threat.

Akame emerged from the storm of power, her skin covered in black markings reminiscent to those left on the bodies of Murasame's victims.

However, unlike them, she was not dying.

Instead, it had elevated her power to a level where even Esdeath had to regard her seriously.

And she was not the only one.

"Magatama…3rd Manifestation!"

A second maelstrom of power appeared not too far away, causing Esdeath to split her focus between Akame and the new arrival.

Yuu stepped forward, his wounds all healed and his power greater than ever, to confront Esdeath alongside Akame.

But, Akame did not think that that was the reason why he warranted so much attention.

His power had increased, yes, but much like his predecessor, activating his Trump Card for a 3rd time only raised his capabilities marginally.

It was substantial enough for Esdeath to recognized him as a threat, but not so much that he would setting off alarms in her head.

No, the real reason why he had caught her attention was probably because of the ice blue aura that had appeared around him, replacing the lightning.

An aura that felt disturbingly similar to Esdeath's.

"Allow me to thank you, Esdeath. I could not have done this if you hadn't so carelessly thrown your immense power all over the place. As thanks, allow me to show you what it's like…to see things from the perspectives of others."

Yuu clasped his hands together, the ice blue aura flaring greatly.

"Hyojin Shorai!"

A chill even colder than the blizzard blowing around them swept through the area.

Everyone, including Akame and Esdeath shivered.

But for the latter two, it was not from the cold, but from the threat that Yuu now presented.

Both his eyes and the magatama embedded in his chest were glowing ice blue, emanating chilling power.

"Thanks to both of your Trump Cards and that last blow you hit me with, I finally absorbed enough of your power. Do you hear it, Esdeath? It's the sound of the tides finally turning in our favor!"

* * *

Esdeath could safely say this was a first.

Through her actions and machinations, she had gained a monumental number of enemies along the way.

And while they tried many means and measures in an effort to counter her, none of them had fought fire with fire before.

She did not mean that in the literal sense, of course.

Using fire against an ice user was the sensible thing to do, not that it worked against her.

To the Revolutionary Army's credit, it had only taken a few hundred casualties before they figured out that mere flames stood no chance against _her_ ice.

She meant that no one had ever tried to use her own power against her before.

But that was exactly what was happening to her right now.

Before, she could call forth and manipulate absurd quantities of ice effortlessly, and the blizzard born from her Trump Card only further expedited the process.

Now, she actually had to put conscious effort into the manipulation of ice.

Because there was now another ice user on the battlefield with power and skill that could rival hers.

Her once almost unconscious manipulation of ice had now turned into a mental tug of war with Yuu, each vying for control of the ice around them.

His manipulation speed was slower than hers, which was to be expected, since he had only replicated what he could of her powers rather than directly imbibing Demon's Extract like she had, but the fact that he was able to take control of her ice was already enough to warrant her attention.

She focused most of her mental power to maintain control of the storm clouds above them, even at the price of having less power to war with Yuu over the rest.

She had no idea if he could take control of her Trump Card, but when surrounded by a military force equivalent to a million soldiers and Akame with her Trump Card, a drop in her power was not a risk she could afford to take.

Which made this fight a lot more interesting, if slightly irritating, considering that she now actually had to try.

By switching from lightning to ice, Yuu had sacrificed a good deal of his speed and some of his power, but he was now capable of directly interfering with her powers, which actually made him more challenging to fight than one would think.

And then there was Akame, whose power and speed had risen to the level where even she had trouble keeping up with and still possessed the threat of instant death, which she no longer had Mahapadma to counter.

Fighting both of them at the same time brought her to an all new high.

Now if only the other nuisances weren't around to ruin it…

What was she talking about?

If she didn't want them to interfere, all she had to do was this…!

Esdeath slapped a hand on the ground.

Massive pillars of ice shot out of the ground and fused together, forming a wall that surrounded and separated the three of them from everyone else.

Yuu immediately tried to take control and remove them, but she quickly intercepted him, forcing him on the defensive.

Akame appeared on her right, slashing at her.

Esdeath created an ice prosthetic in place of her severed arm and used it to deflect the cursed blade.

Yuu took advantage of the shift in her attention and attacked with his sword.

She clashed with both of them again and again, and with each crushing blow that would have killed an ordinary human several times over, she found herself being pushed further and further back.

Her predatory grin threatened to split her face in half.

This was so much fun…!

She created a swarm of icicles, raining it down on the two of them.

Even with them numbering in the thousands, Akame and Yuu easily shattered all of them.

Esdeath found it a little surprising that they were still able to move so well, especially considering that she was lowering the temperature within the wall.

It was more of a countermeasure against Akame than Yuu, since the latter now also possessed the ability to manipulate ice.

He must have figured out what she was doing and was stopping her by raising the temperature.

The gulf in their skill and power, however small it might be, was enough to ensure that the temperature was still dropping, but it was much slower than she had intended.

She was originally intending to deal with Akame first, since the latter's power up was unlikely to last for much longer with how powerful it was, but at this rate, she would lose that power before Esdeath could personally kill her.

Well then, she supposed there was no other option.

It would hardly be the satisfying fight she wanted, but she had to kill Yuu first and quickly.

She kicked Akame away and focused her attention on him.

"You bad boy, taking my things without my permission…I'll have to punish you for that!"

The two clashed blades multiple times in an instant, with Esdeath faster than him, but Yuu stronger than her.

She had to constantly mend her frozen broadsword, and a single clean blow to a vital would likely kill her.

Which only made this even more enjoyable.

Ice gathered in his hand and molded into a knife, which he stabbed towards her eye.

She shifted out of the way, but not quickly enough.

The knife grazed her cheek, causing blood to spray out of the cut.

She grinned madly.

That was the third time he had drawn blood from her.

The first time was when they met and she had first taken an interest in him.

The second was just a few minutes ago, when he kicked her in the gut and cracked her bottom ribs.

And now too…!

His talent as a killer was on par with hers!

Perhaps it was even greater, considering his age!

If she had met him first, she wondered if she would have chosen him as her lover rather than Tatsumi.

It was too bad that he had to die by her hands right here and now.

Taking a leaf out of his book, she created another sword in her false hand and stabbed him through the foot, a move he did not expect.

Yuu twitched, a show of his impressive self-control, but now she had him right where she wanted him.

She slashed his gut open with her broadsword, just barely missing his spine.

"Gah…!"

This time, he could not stifle a cry of pain as his insides threatened to spill out of the gaping wound.

She withdrew the sword and kicked him hard, causing him to fly backwards and slam into the wall.

And while he was recovering, she rained as many icicles down on him as she could, only stopping when she felt his threatening presence finally disappear.

She could not see him under the frozen rubble he had been buried by, but she knew he was either dead or dying.

Such a pity, that someone so talented had to die so soon.

"Esdeath…!" Akame roared in rage as she dashed towards her once more.

"It's just us now, Akame!"

The ice demon clashed with the strongest assassin over and over, and with each blow, she gained more and more ground against her.

With Yuu down, the surrounding temperature was dropping rapidly, and so was Akame's ability to move.

While she could just barely see her before, Akame was now completely visible even at her highest speed.

"What's wrong!? Is this the best you can do!? Is this all I sacrificed a proper fight with Yuu for!?" Esdeath roared as she kicked Akame in the gut.

Night Raid's trump card snarled as she assumed a stance.

Esdeath could tell by her eyes.

She knew she couldn't keep this up for much longer and was going to settle this with one last attack.

Esdeath would gladly reciprocate.

"Let us end this!"

Esdeath generated a massive amount of ice and created a frozen golem, with her acting as its core and pilot.

"With this, your blade can no longer reach me!"

Akame's response was to dash past her, kicking off the wall at an angle to kick off another part.

Repeating this again and again, she slowly built up momentum.

And with a final kick, she ascended into the air high above the walls.

At the peak of her flight, she raised Murasame above her head and as she began to fall back down towards Esdeath, she swung it down.

With the power of her Trump Card and the sheer momentum backing the attack, there was a very good chance that she would cleave all the way through her ice and strike her down.

Just as she wanted.

A powerful attack like that would be child's play to read.

She would stop her in her tracks and take care of that troublesome katana once and for all.

And then Akame herself.

With the only three in the Revolutionary Army who even stood a chance of killing her dead, she would easily crush the rest of them like the ants they were.

And then, she would be free to rain chaos down upon the world.

Just the thought of it excited her so much that she was practically trembling.

Akame was almost there.

Esdeath's grin grew wider and wider.

It was ov-

"Mahapadma!"

-er…

Pain blossomed in her chest out of nowhere.

She looked down, to find that she had been cut down, her ice golem crumbling around her, and the black marking of Murasame's poison racing across her body from the wound.

The cursed poison constricted and attacked her heart, and Esdeath knew it was too late to save herself.

She had lost.

But how?

"It's over, Esdeath."

She turned to find Yuu standing behind her, his auras of energy and ice compressed so tightly against his body that they looked as though they strained to break free and flare fully.

She was looking directly at him, yet she could not detect his presence at all.

No, that wasn't quite accurate.

He had suppressed his presence so greatly that if she hadn't known what to look for, she would not have been able to find it, especially not in the presence of Akame's overwhelming murderous aura.

Any person with lesser abilities than hers would not have been able to do so.

It was just like back then, when they had first met face to face and he had first drawn blood from her.

And in an instant, she knew what had happened.

"Haha…hahahaha…!"

She could not help but laugh.

The mighty Esdeath, hoisted on her own petard!

Who would have thought that of all things, it would be her own Trump Card that would lead to her defeat?

A strategy like this…could not have been thought up on the fly.

"…How long have you been planning for this?"

"Ever since I learned that I could replicate the powers of other Teigu. Mahapadma, the Trump Card capable of stopping time…it was truly incredible, and that was exactly why we thought that we might be able to turn it against you. The first step was forcing you to use enough ice for me to assimilate. We didn't really do much in that regard. Convinced that this would be the last battle you would have with us, you were only all too happy to provide all the ice I could wish for. Of course, even if I were able to use it, I could not simply do so at any moment I wished. If I even gave you an inkling as to what we were planning, you would easily turn the tables on us. That was why we planned and planned for every scenario. In this case, we knew that we could whittle you down by attacking with as many people as we could muster. We knew that your obsession with Tatsumi combined with his power and immunity to your ice would lead you to dealing with him first. Then, if we were able to force you to fight the two of us seriously, we knew that your love of battle would lead you to separate us from every other combatant. If you thought that you had killed me, you would not be consciously searching for my presence. If Akame performed an over the top, powerful final blow, you would lay a trap for her. And it was in that moment that you would be most vulnerable."

Esdeath chuckled.

"And you even altered Mahapadma to ensure that Akame would not get caught up in it." She noted

"I wouldn't say I altered it. My ice is a little more limited than yours, so I just used it in a much simpler way than yours. It's easier to stop a single target than an entire area. And it grants the boon of additional duration as well."

"Do you understand now, Esdeath? Our victory was brought about through everyone's efforts and sacrifices. Power by itself, no matter how great, cannot bring victory."

Wind billowed overhead, and Esdeath looked upwards to find a massive draconic form flying over the wall.

"Tatsumi…you're alive?"

"Of course he is. There're a lot of people who would be pissed at him if he didn't come back alive."

"…Ha..hahaha…" Esdeath laughed one last time.

It was incredible she was still alive.

Anyone else would have died within a second of having Murasame's poison introduced into their body so close to the heart.

But even her incredible vitality would not hold out forever.

And if she was going to die…she would do so on her own terms.

Esdeath hoisted herself to her feet, causing Yuu and Akame to tense, thinking that she still intended to fight, even in her current condition.

"I have lost. And now, I die."

Esdeath encased herself within a block of ice.

She willed it to crumble away, and take her with it.

As the ice and her body slowly turned into diamond dust in the wind, she looked at her chosen lover one last time.

She had spent her entire life simply taking whatever she wanted.

But, in the end, she was never able to steal Tatsumi's heart.

And that was her one and only regret.

Esdeath's body disintegrated, and with her gone, so too did the ice she had created disappear.

The storm clouds dissipated, making way for the sun to shine down on a new age.

Yuu and Akame said just two words.

"Mission complete."

And the Revolutionary Army cheered with all of their might.

The hellish age, where lives were so meaningless, was finally over.

* * *

Akame's long hair billowed in the wind as she stood at the bow of the ship she was on, heading for the secluded Eastern Territories.

Esdeath's demise had all but ensured that the Empire would fall, but there had still been other loose ends to take care of.

Prime Minister Honest, the source of the evil himself, was captured by Leone and dealt with in a fitting manner, his body chopped up so that his substantial bounty could be collected by as many people as possible.

Priority went to the people he had personally wronged, or to their kin.

He screamed for mercy the entire time, and only died when every last bit of flesh had been stripped from his bones.

A most fitting end for that scumbag.

Unfortunately, his capture came at a price.

Leone had been fatally wounded by him, and it was only because of Lionelle's fusion with her body that she was still able to keep moving even after she had already gone cold.

Once it wore off…

They found her body the day after the fall of the Empire, lying in the streets, just in front of the Imperial Army recruitment center where she and Tatsumi had first met.

She had died with a smile on her face.

Any successors that he had were all found and disposed of as well, finally rooting out the evil that had plagued the old Empire.

The Emperor, freed from whatever mental influence Purge Mode had placed him under, was publicly executed, paving the way for a new Empire to take the place of the old.

Unlike the Prime Minister, he remained firm and resolute until the very moment his head was separated from the rest of his body.

Suzuka, the last of the Four Rakshasa, four incredibly powerful warriors on par with Teigu users who were under the employ of the old Empire, had vanished along with Esdeath's severed hand.

What she intended to do with it, no one knew and no one wanted to know.

All they knew was that even with alchemy, it was impossible for Esdeath to be revived from just a hand, and that was enough for them, and perhaps for her too.

Tatsumi, who had survived Murasame's curse, because Akame had targeted the Tyrant rather than him, had his draconic body stabilized as best as the Revolutionary Army's doctor could with Perfector, and returned to Mine's side.

Mine recovered from her catatonic state and left with Tatsumi for his home village, new life growing in her womb.

Speaking of the village, Najenda had arranged for them to receive a regular allowance from the new Empire, ensuring that no one ever went hungry again.

They got a shock when Tatsumi returned, without his friends Ieyasu and Sayo and in his current state, but happily welcomed him back nonetheless.

Wave and Kurome, who had defected from the Jaegers and the Empire right before the final battle, had retreated to a mountain villa.

Wave was still suffering from the aftereffects of wielding two Teigu at once, a taboo that not even Esdeath herself broke, one of his kidneys damaged beyond recovery and the rest of his body needing regular treatment every few years.

Kurome suffered mentally and emotionally, the effects of the drugs she had been constantly taking while in the old Empire's service finally wearing off, which meant that she recalled every single atrocity she had committed, the faces of every person she had killed haunting her day and night.

But with Wave's love and Akame's constant visits, she was finally on the road to recovery.

The Revolutionary Army threw themselves into their work to establish the new Empire, working together with members of the old Empire who wanted only prosperity throughout the land.

The Path of Peace settled down as well, becoming a source of inspiration and hope for the people.

The Northern and Western Tribes had their numbers decimated by Esdeath and her mighty army, and were thus no longer in any position to threaten the new Empire.

They had opened diplomatic relations with each other and with the new Empire, striving for peace.

Esdeath's army itself had fallen into a slump with the death of their commanding officer, and while the more fanatic of the bunch committed suicide to follow their commander in death, those who remained were recruited into the new Empire's border guard.

And of course, there were those who would take advantage of the chaos from the Empire's fall for profit.

Tatsumi and Mine, Wave and Kurome…they all bore scars from the battle and had retired.

And thus, in their place, she and Yuu had taken care of the new targets, making their deaths look like accidents.

The birth of the new Empire did not need to be marred by any more unpleasantness.

And that was exactly why she was on this boat.

In order to ensure that peace would finally come, there could be no evidence that the Empire had done anything as heinous as employing assassins to do their dirty work.

Even if Akame had not chosen to leave herself, Najenda would eventually have been forced to ask her to do so.

Not wanting to burden her with that role, Akame had departed willingly, leaving nothing but a note at their old base for Najenda to find.

She also had her own reasons for wanting to go to the Eastern Territories.

It was where the materials for both Murasame and its cursed poison had originated.

Even now, her body was still wracked with pain from the poison she had taken into herself to use her Trump Card.

She hoped to find a way to cure it, or at least alleviate the effects.

Akame turned back, looking towards her homeland, slowly disappearing over the horizon.

And then she looked at the ship itself.

Before the final battle, she had told her comrades that she hoped that once the Empire had fallen, they could depart for lands unknown together.

She had also hoped that Wave and Kurome would come with them.

Now, out of those 7 companions, 6 were not around.

Hot tears welled up in her eyes as she regarded the ship forlornly.

A broad hand patted her head.

"Quit mopping already. If everyone could see you now, they would laugh their asses off at you."

Akame looked at Yuu, the only one to accompany her on this trip.

He was dressed in a simple buttoned shirt and long pant, along with a black trench coat and a blue scarf.

Along with the black headphones Chelsea, one of their former comrades, once wore and had given to him before her death.

He too had suffered in the war.

He had used Magatama Manifestation three times, in the span of just one day no less.

It should have killed him, like it had most of Susanoo's previous users.

Najenda had been the only exception, and she had been left on the verge of death until she recovered.

Yuu's vitality was even greater than hers, and he was aided by enhanced regeneration.

But even he was left greatly weakened, looking frailer than before as a result.

He would recover, but it would take time.

He had his reasons for leaving as well.

Other than the fact that he was one of the two remaining Night Raid assassins who was still active, he had replicated Esdeath's powers, and no matter how much others were aware that they were two very different people, just the sight of it alone would bring painful memories to the surface, and thus for their peace of mind, he had left.

He was accompanying her for two reasons.

Yata-no-Kagami had shattered under the power of Shikoutazer's attack.

Like Murasame, the roots of Susanoo's weapons lay in the Eastern Territories.

He intended to find them and reforge the reflective mirror from scratch.

That, and he could not let her go on her own.

She wiped her tears and gazed forward resolutely.

He was right.

They had survived.

That was why, in place of everyone who did not, they had to continue living.

And even if they were incapable of anything but killing, there was surely a road for them to walk from here on out.

They just had to find it.

* * *

Mononobe Mitsuki strode purposefully through the woods.

It had been three years since her brother had been taken by NIFL, two since his sudden reappearance and subsequent disappearance.

She had not stopped looking for him in all that time.

Her persistence paid off, for it was just a few days ago that Charlotte B. Lord had informed her that she had located her brother.

Forcefully recruited into one of NIFL's unofficial, covert units and made its Captain.

The principal used every bit of influence she had with Asgard, a global organization that strove to fight back against the Dragons, and also the administrative body that governed both Midgard and NIFL, to have him transferred, but Loki Jotunheim, her brother's commanding officer, had so glibly informed them that he had gone MIA on a mission in Spain over two years before, and had not been seen since.

It was his opinion that he was likely dead.

Not quite ready to believe him, the principal had arranged for her to go to the place her brother had gone missing to investigate for herself.

Which was why she was in the middle of nowhere in Spain at the moment, searching for any trace of her brother.

"Mitsuki, it's getting dark. Let's stop here for today and continue tomorrow."

Accompanying her was the rest of Brynhildr Class.

In addition to her, Miyako, Lisa Highwalker, a blonde, reddish-purple eyed British girl from a noble family, Firill Crest, a purplish-silver haired and light green eyed girl, the 3rd princess of the Principality of Erlia, and Haruka, who had graduated from Midgard, meaning that she had lost her ability to create Dark Matter, and was now their homeroom teacher, the original five of the Brynhildr Class, three new classmates had joined their ranks.

Ariella Lu, a 15 year old tomboyish brunette of Middle-Eastern origins, and Miyazawa Ren, a shy 13 year old redheaded genius, foster sisters, had joined six months after the battle with the Kraken

Iris Freyja, a 16 year old silver haired, red eyed clumsy girl had joined six months after that.

Apart from Ariella, the most athletic of them, and Mitsuki herself, fueled by desperation and adrenaline, the girls looked completely exhausted.

They had spent the better part of the day searching.

They should, by all means, be resting right now, but…

"If you're all really that exhausted, you can return to the hotel first. I will keep searching myself."

"Are you crazy!? Going into the forest by yourself!? That's like the opening plot of every serial killer movie!"

Mitsuki shot Miyako a deadpan look.

"This is reality, not fiction. If there really was a serial killer around, we would have heard about it."

"Miyako's overactive imagination aside, she is correct. It is getting rather late. It would be dangerous to keep looking when it's pitch black. As the Captain of the Dragon Subjugation Squad, you must set a proper example for your classmates." Haruka said.

"But…"

"I don't claim to know your brother, but I'm sure he would not want you to hurt yourself on his account."

"…"

She was right.

But even so…

"…Haaaa…Very well, we can search one more area. But after that, we have to return to the hotel." She compromised.

Mitsuki wasn't very happy about it, but she had to consider the others too.

"…Understood."

The group ventured deeper into the forest, intent on getting this over with.

There was one last area Mitsuki wanted to check.

The clearing where Yuu had last communicated with Loki before going missing.

However, night settled far more quickly than they had expected, plunging them into darkness.

They soon started tripping other roots and small rocks, greatly inconveniencing them.

"Everyone, please create light sources. Ah, Iris-san, you don't have to do it." Mitsuki told them.

Everyone except Haruka, who was no longer a D, and Iris, who possessed the strange ability to cause any transmutation she attempted to end in a spectacular explosion, generated a baseball-sized sphere of Dark Matter.

However, before they could begin transmutation, the ground beneath them started to glow.

"Eh!? What is this!?"

"Everyone, get away quickly!"

But before they could move, the light had already become blinding.

In the next moment, they experienced a feeling of weightlessness as though gravity had suddenly decided to stop working.

When they opened their eyes, it was to find themselves in a forest clearing.

However, it was clearly not the same place they had been earlier.

For one, the air here was just too clean to be anywhere near a country with an industry-based economy.

But even more telling, it was suddenly daytime.

They got the feeling that they weren't in Kansas anymore.

* * *

Najenda stood silently before the 6 unmarked graves of the fallen Night Raid members.

To ensure that peace would perpetuate in the new Empire, all traces of their group had to be completely erased.

6 were dead, Tatsumi and Mine were retired and living on the outskirts of the Empire's territory, and Akame and Yuu were no longer even in the country.

Najenda herself was the only remaining proof that Night Raid even existed, and with her position in the new Empire, she could easily cover it up.

But even so, her fallen comrades did not deserve to be forgotten.

They had only managed to achieve this peace because of their efforts.

So, she had memorialized them near their old base, leaving their graves unmarked in case anyone happened upon this place, visiting frequently and bringing flowers to lay there.

Tatsumi and Mine occasionally came here as well, obviously with Tatsumi using invisibility, and Yuu and Akame sent flowers to her to help them place every month.

It was nothing special, perhaps even not enough to reward their efforts, but it was the only solace she could offer them now.

Perhaps, once the new Empire had achieved true stability, then…

The last ashes fell from her cigarette, which she crushed under her foot.

It was about time for her to return to the capital.

It had been two years since the establishment of the new Empire, but there was still plenty of work to do before it could be called stable.

Her guards, consisting of Teigu users formerly from the Revolutionary Army, were waiting for her at the entrance of the base.

She should be getting back to them.

She mounted her horse, preparing to ride back, but paused when a flash of light from inside the forest, just barely visible under the sunlight, caught her attention.

"What the…?"

"Najenda-san!"

One of her guards rode up to her with a worried expression.

"I assume you saw that too?"

"All of us did. What should we do? It might be enemy agents…"

"Check it out, of course. If it is enemy agents, we wipe them out before they get anywhere close to the capital."

"Understood!"

They met up with the rest of the guards and rode towards the spot where the flash had come from.

As they got closer, Najenda began to recall.

This was the clearing where they had found Yuu two years ago.

Coincidence?

They burst through the shrubbery, expecting a squad of enemies…but came across a group of similarly-aged girls, all wearing the same uniform, led by an older woman in a more formal looking attire instead.

Najenda and her guards stared at them.

They stared right back, looking just as confused.

Then, one of them waved.

"Um…hi?"

* * *

…I hate myself for doing this.

But, I literally cannot write for any of my other stories.

I'm just not feeling any inspiration for them.

But, I did for this idea.

Want to know how long it took me to write this?

6 days.

I typed this in 6 days, averaging about 2.5k words a day.

I have not typed this fast in a very long time.

On the other hand, for my other stories, I can barely manage 500 words on a day where I actually feel like working on them.

That is how much difference inspiration makes.

Anyway, Akame ga Kill is one of my favorite manga series, and Unlimited Fafnir is my favorite light novel series, so I thought, why not cross these two over?

The chapter kinda jumps all over the place, but let's face it, if I described every detail in the last battle of Akame ga Kill, this chapter would probably be twice as long.

Esdeath is actually one of my favorite characters, which is why I felt kinda bad I killed her off at the start.

She's an example of a Mary Sue I feel is actually done right.

Her power isn't one that is stupidly broken from the beginning.

Ice manipulation is actually a very simple power that anyone can use, but it's because Esdeath is so creative with its usage that she is so powerful.

Not to mention, she does have an actual background in the story, one that explains why she's so fucked in the head.

And has actual weaknesses that everyone has noticed from the start, just not ones they could immediately take advantage of.

On the other hand, a character like Yhwach is one that is portrayed so badly that it's not even funny.

His Almighty is all kinds of bullshit, his character isn't even explained properly (seriously, why did he even want to kill the Soul King?) and his only weakness is a magical metal asspull that isn't even revealed until like, the last 4 or 5 chapters.

I get that Jump forced Kubo to rush the ending, but seriously.

Just like how I like Esdeath among others, there is one character in Akame ga Kill that I absolutely hate.

Not because they're poorly written.

They aren't described in detail as much as say, Night Raid or the Jaegars, and they're really just a step away from being Yhwach-level asspull, but that's not the reason I hate them.

I hate them for what they did, or rather what they _didn't_ do in the story.

Can you guess who it is?

Hint: It's not Honest, though he is second on my list, with the Emperor third.

The answer will eventually be revealed in later chapters, which will be written in a similar manner as Hellfire, a 'past' segment detailing Yuu's time in Night Raid, where questions like 'why does Yuu have Susanoo's powers?' and 'what is Esdeath talking about when she said Yuu was the first person to ever wound her?' will be answered, and a 'present' segment, whre the story following the end of this prologue continues.

I think that's about it.

As always, please read and review.


	2. Chapter 1: The Visitors

Past

Tatsumi was sitting (lightly dozing) in a chair in the base's infirmary, where the boy they had picked up was resting.

Like Leone predicted, Najenda had not been happy about them bringing an unknown into their base, but she had kindly allowed him to recover in the infirmary until he woke up.

That had been weeks ago, while his wounds had healed in that time, the boy had only stirred maybe 4 or 5 times, though 3 of those instances had been in the past week, so they were hopeful that he would finally awaken in the next few days.

One of them had to be keeping watching over him at all times, making sure that he did not wake up while no one was looking and compromise their position.

And it was Tatsumi's turn.

He didn't mind.

This was a perfect opportunity for him to unwind.

The past few days had taken a toll on him.

They had lost Bulat to the Three Beasts just a few days after they picked the boy up, though he had managed to kill two of them before dying himself, with Tatsumu dispatching the last one with the Teigu that the 'Hundred Men Slayer' had passed down to him.

Shortly after, Najenda returned to the Revolutionary Army's HQ to deliver the Teigu taken from Zank the Beheader and the Three Beasts and request reinforcements to fill the holes in their ranks left by Sheele's and Bulat's deaths.

That very next day, Esdeath herself hosted a fighting tournament in the capital, offering a substantial amount of money to the winner.

Tatsumi initially didn't have any interest in anything organized by the superior of the one who killed his older brother figure, but as Lubbock reminded him, the whole reason he came to the capital in the first place was to raise money for his home village.

He shouldn't be passing up an opportunity for easy money.

In just a few minutes, he had immediately regretted that decision, because right after his first match, Esdeath personally descended from the judges' podium, put a collar around his neck, proclaimed him as her property and dragged him off despite his protests.

It was then he was introduced to her 'Anti-Night Raid' squad, the Jaegers.

Aside from Esdeath, leader of the Jaegars, there were 6 other members.

Seryu Ubiquitous, the Imperial Police member that Tatsumi had once met while walking around the capital lost after getting separated from Leone.

He had thought that she was a genuinely nice person who had no idea of the atrocities that her superiors had committed, but the events of the very same night proved him wrong.

Mine and Sheele were returning from a successful assassination, but were intercepted by Seryu along the way.

The Imperial Police officer revealed her true twisted personality as she viciously attacked them with her biological Teigu, Magical Beast Transformation: Hekatonkheires.

But even then, they hadn't realized the full extent of her madness, not until Sheele had cut off her arms with Extase, and instead of surrendering like anyone else would have done, she revealed the guns she had implanted into her shoulders and continued fighting.

In the end, Sheele sacrificed herself to save Mine when she fell for Hekatonkheires' Trump Card.

Sheele was killed, Extase was lost and Mine was severely wounded.

It was that incident that taught Tatsumi just how heartbreaking their line of work really was.

The next member was Bols. He was a member of the Incineration Squad prior to being assigned to the Jaegers, using his Teigu, Purgatory's Invitation: Rubicante, to burn down several villages suspected of allying with rebel forces along with their inhabitants.

Despite his rather intimidating appearance, he was actually quite a nice person, not that that was enough to absolve him of the sins he had committed.

Then again, the same was true for Night Raid as well.

The third was Dr. Stylish, an extremely flamboyant scientist, who, from what he had heard from their conversations, was also the one who had modified Seryu's body into a living armory, using his Teigu, Glorious Hands of God: Perfector, allowing him to perform virtually any task involving the use of his hands with incredible speed and absolute precision.

He got the same vibes from him as he did from Bulat, only multiplied by a factor of about a thousand, with none of the latter's qualities.

The fourth was Ran, a rather polite and effeminate young man who also served as the Jaeger's second-in-command, specializing in reconnaissance and long-range combat using his Teigu, Thousand Mile Flight: Mastema.

The fifth was Wave, a young man who Tatsumi found was actually disturbingly similar to him.

Their personalities were virtually identical, with Wave being more naïve than he was, since he had spent most of his military career in the Navy and had yet to see the corruption in the capital firsthand like Tatsumi had.

Their fighting style too, being combatants with considerable skill with both swords and unarmed combat, and also armed with similar Teigu.

In fact, Wave's teigu, Carnage Incarnate: Grand Chariot, was supposedly based on his Incursio.

And of course, there was also their position in the group.

Basically, they were the gophers, which led to them forming an odd kinship with each other, even though Tatsumi was aware that he was an enemy.

The last member was Kurome, Akame's little sister.

Much like Wave and Tatsumi, Kurome and Akame were disturbingly similar to each other.

Aside from their looks, obviously considering they were sisters, Kurome's skill with a katana, her fighting style, even her appetite and eating habits were all almost identical to Akame.

If there was one difference, it would be that Kurome was more insane than Akame was.

She had said herself that her goal was to kill her sister to be with her forever.

It didn't make much sense until one considered her Teigu, March of the Dead: Yatsufusa, which allowed her to manipulate the corpses of those slain by the blade like puppets.

It looked like a group of misfits from the outside, but Night Raid was pretty much the same.

And a group whose members were all capable of using a Teigu could not be underestimated.

After all, Teigu could only be used by powerful humans.

And he had personally seen them in action.

They were very effective.

It was like seeing Night Raid in action, only on the enemies' side.

They were going to be a giant pain in the ass.

Tatsumi had barely managed to sneak away from them.

He had been paired up with Wave on a mission, and when they were attacked by a herd of Danger Beasts, Tatsumi cut his way through them and escaped from his sight.

He donned Incursio, using its speed to get as far away as he could, but Wave ended up catching up to him with Grand Chariot.

The Three Beasts were all wiped out, so the Empire wasn't aware that Bulat was dead and that Incursio had been passed onto him, so Wave had ended up assuming that he was Bulat and attacked with the intent to kill.

Tatsumi's only goal was to escape and return to base, so he hadn't fought back, but even if he had, he wasn't sure if he could have won.

Wave was strong, his physical capabilities on the same level as Tatsumi's.

And he had more experience in using his Teigu than Tatsumi did.

Furthermore, Grand Chariot was supposedly a completed version of Incursio, which meant its performance was higher.

Wave kicked him once, and it felt like he had been run over and trampled by an Earth Dragon.

He barely escaped when Wave had kicked him into a river, and he immediately activated his invisibility to hide until he left.

Akame and Lubbock had found him shortly after and brought him back, where he reported everything he learned to the others.

And now he found himself here.

Honestly, watching over one kid was a vacation compared to the past few days.

Unfortunately, he didn't get much longer to enjoy it, because the base rumbled, jolting him awake.

He detected multiple hostile presences all over the base, and even more outside.

Crap, had the Jaegers tracked them down!?

The others seemed to either be on their way or already fighting.

He drew Incursio's key and inactive form, a short sword.

"Incursio!"

The adaptive armor wrapped around his body, and he dashed out of the infirmary to join the fight.

And that was why he did not notice the boy beginning to stir.

* * *

They were completely surrounded.

Stylish's modified soldiers crowded around them, waiting for the mad scientist to give them the order to attack.

Even with these numbers, Tatsumi didn't think that they would lose.

However, Stylish had released an airborne poison into the area, and aside from him, who was clad in armor, everyone was effected, energy draining fast from their bodies.

Akame and Leone, who possessed great vitality and fortitude, were still able to move somewhat, but Mine and Lubbock were both down.

As the only one who could still move properly, he had to protect them, but he wasn't sure how long he would be able to hold out before the poison seeped through his armor and downed him too.

Now what?

*BOOM*

A plume of dirt exploded into the air when something dropped down right in the middle of the enemy formation, sending several flying.

The dust cleared, revealing a tall man with dark blue hair, eyes of the same color, wearing white robes, holding a long mace-like weapon, and bull horns jutting out of the sides of his head.

"Wipe out the enemies before you, Susanoo!" Najenda, having returned from the Revolutionary Army HQ with reinforcements, roared from her position atop a tamed Air Manta, flying just high enough to be out of the poison's range.

"Understood." The man named Susanoo said as he brandished his weapon.

Blades extended from the bludgeon-like end of the weapon, allowing him to easily tear through enemy ranks.

Numbers did not seem to matter to him, because he was felling enemies by the dozens without getting a single scratch on him.

Soon, he was the last one standing, dismembered bodies strewn all around him, still without a scratch on his person.

At least, until the corpses exploded, engulfing him in flames.

The fire eventually died down, revealing Susanoo's mangled corpse.

Or so it appeared.

However, the grievous wounds all over his body healed almost immediately, lost limbs returning from nothing.

Tatsumi realized that Susanoo was not a human.

He was a biological Teigu.

All was silent on the battlefield as everyone stared at Susanoo in shock.

The biological Teigu looked over at them.

More specifically, he was looking at Mine, who was still lying on the ground, weakened by the paralytic.

"…What?" Mine asked when he just kept staring.

Susanoo moved towards her in a slightly agitated manner, which worried Tatsumi, even though he was on their side.

He knelt in front of Mine…and pat her unkempt hair back into its normal straight appearance.

"…Good!"

"…What do you mean 'good'?"

Susanoo did not answer.

Instead, he looked up towards Najenda just as she began to command him.

"Susanoo, enemies spotted in the woods to the southwest! Eliminate all of them! No survivors!"

"Understood."

The humanoid Teigu rushed off in a burst of speed.

Not ten seconds later, the woods in the direction he had run off in were flattened when a steadily growing form rose from the ground, towering over the area.

It looked like a nightmarish hybrid of a muscular man, a toddler and a machine, blown up to ridiculous proportions.

And if Tatsumi squinted, he could vaguely make out what appeared to be Stylish's torso sticking of the monstrosity's forehead, though he couldn't be sure from this distance.

It slammed a fist down on the earth, causing a great rumble as a shockwave rocked the area.

It was strong.

Susanoo was skilled, more so than he was, but Tatsumi wasn't sure if even the humanoid Teigu could defeat that thing by himself.

He was about to go to his aid when he felt a tug on his cape.

"Wait, Tatsumi…if you can still move, bring me with you too!" Akame beseeched.

Tatsumi hesitated for a moment.

Akame was obviously still feeling the effects of the poison.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have had to ask him for help.

He wasn't sure about bringing her into a dangerous battle when she was in that state.

However, with the power of Murasame…it was possible to end this battle quickly with as little collateral damage as possible.

And it also minimized the risk of exposure.

As far as their base was located from the capital, someone would eventually noticed the giant mutant man baby in the distance.

Especially if said man baby kept growing.

In the worst case scenario, Esdeath and the other Jaegers would come to investigate themselves.

He made his decision and hoisted Akame onto his back.

"Make sure you hold on tight! I'll be moving fast!"

The two of them sped off, chasing after the monster.

They made their entrance with a loud bang, distracting Stylish from Susanoo.

The mad scientist laughed as he took in their admittedly ridiculous appearance, a young girl hanging off the neck of an armored figure.

"You two look dead on your feet! How about I start with you first!?"

Stylish reached out with a massive hand, intent on grabbing them.

But, the increase in size provided a massive detriment to his speed.

Tatsumi easily avoided it, even while carrying Akame.

And before Stylish could attack again, a laser smashed into the side of his giant head.

Mine, having recovered sufficiently from the paralytic to fire her Teigu, Roman Artillery: Pumpkin, had been picked up by Najenda and was now flying on the Air Manta.

Stylish's massive body staggered for a moment, stunned by the shot.

Its feet slipped on the terrain and the whole thing fell over on its ass.

Seizing the opportunity, Tatsumi dashed up its legs, running towards Stylish's position at the center of the massive body's forehead.

An oversized hand shot out at them from the side, and though it was moving just slowly enough for Tatsumi to avoid it, there wasn't a need for it.

Susanoo used his weapon and batted it aside.

Tatsumi was quickly advancing up the torso, almost reaching the sternum.

Stylish's real body was almost in range.

"Not yet!" Stylish roared as multiple cables with bladed ends sprang out from around him and shot towards them.

Unlike Stylish's previous attacks, these were fast.

He couldn't avoid them.

So he did the next best thing.

"Go, Akame!"

He flung Akame towards Stylish's main body.

Night Raid's strongest assassin sailed through the air as she gripped Murasame's scabbard with one hand and its hilt with the other, preparing to draw and slash.

However, she did not get that chance, because just as she had drawn the One Cut Killing Sword and was about to reach him, Stylish's main body suddenly ejected itself from the massive one, soaring upwards.

Murasame swiped through empty space.

The massive body surged upwards, causing Tatsumi and Susanoo to fall off while slamming into Akame.

The swordswoman let out a strangled cry as she was struck by a great weight.

Murasame slipped from her hand, carried through the air by sheer force before disappearing into the distant woods.

"Akame!" Tatsumi quickly dived after his comrade as she fell several dozen meters, about to become a bloody pancake on the forest floor.

He barely managed to catch her in time.

"Did you really think I didn't have a contingency for the 'One Cut Killer'!? Now die!" Stylish roared as he rejoined his massive body and threw a haymaker at them.

Tatsumi barely managed to get out of the way in time, but the shockwave from the impact sent him and Akame flying before landing and tumbling as the ground cracked and groaned beneath them.

Another laser slammed into the monstrosity's head, courtesy of Mine, but this time, it barely fazed Stylish.

His other hand lashed out and struck the Air Manta dead center, knocking Mine, Najenda and the third, hooded person on top off.

Najenda would probably be fine. Tatsumi had yet to see anything that could faze his boss.

But, Mine was probably still feeling the effects of the poison, and he had no idea about the third.

He was about to move to save them when Susanoo leapt into the air and grabbed all three of them, tucking them under his arms.

But, now all of them were grounded, while Stylish's main body was up hundreds of meters in the air, out of any of their reaches while they were still very much in his range.

Now what?

"How nice of all of you to congregate for me! Now I can kill you in one fell swoop!"

The monstrosity's mouth opened, and a ball of light began to rapidly grow in the gaping maw.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that it was a laser.

A really fucking huge one, by the looks of things.

Even if they all ran as fast as they could, they were unlikely to get out of range in time.

And worse, if that thing went off, it was all but certain that it would be seen all the way from the capital.

"Tch, no choice then. Susanoo, I'm activating your Trump Card." Najenda said to the humanoid Teigu.

"Understoo-"

"Urk!?"

But before Susanoo could fully articulate his reply, Stylish let out a gurgle.

They looked up, to see a familiar blade sticking out of the main body's chest.

"Im…possible! I…didn't…even…detect…"

Stylish's body, both the massive and the main one, slumped over as the black markings of Murasame's cursed poison raced across his skin.

The monstrosity slammed face first into the ground, causing it to rumble.

He did not get up.

However, _the person who had finished him off did_.

Whoever it was leapt off the mutated corpse and brushed the dust off of their clothes before walking towards them.

They passed under a ray of moonlight, revealing their appearance.

Tatsumi was startled as he realized it was the boy they had saved all those weeks ago, finally awake.

Thin and atrophied from his weeks in a coma, the boy looked like a strong breeze would knock him over.

And somehow, he had killed the enemy that had been giving all of them trouble.

With Murasame, without any signs of the Teigu rejecting him.

And had apparently scaled Stylish's several hundred meter tall body without anyone, not even Stylish himself, noticing.

Alarms were going off in Tatsumi's head.

All of them tensed as he drew closer, the cursed blade still in hand.

He raised it…

…and flipped in his grip, offering it back to Akame by the hilt.

"…I think this is yours…" He said in a very hoarse voice.

Akame blinked and hesitated before moving forward and reclaiming her blade.

She held it in her hands for a moment, looking at it as though searching for a sign that it no longer acknowledged her as its wielder, before sheathing it.

With that done, all of them turned to regard the boy, who just stood there, clad in the white robes they had dressed him in, staring at them blankly.

Najenda cleared her throat.

"I suppose we owe you our thanks. May we hear your name?"

The boy blinked, and his blank expression turned slightly worried.

"I…was hoping you could tell me that."

The silence that fell over them was so great that you could hear a pin drop.

* * *

Najenda looked at the boy the rest of the team had found in the woods surrounding the base weeks ago, covered in bullet holes and stab wounds, and had chosen to rescue.

She hadn't been happy about it at the time, but his actions tonight proved that it might have been worthwhile after all.

Thanks to him, she ended up not having to use her Trump Card just yet.

She had been planning to save it for another occasion.

Namely, a confrontation with Esdeath with the entire Revolutionary Army at her back.

Now all that remained was to prove that he was trustworthy.

The boy in question was now sitting in a chair as Chelsea, a auburn-haired, red-eyed young woman who was wearing fashionable clothes and a set of headphones on her head, one of the reinforcements that HQ had granted Night Raid, redressed his bandages, which had come loose during the fight.

His wounds didn't look like they had reopened, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

She didn't want him bleeding out while they were questioning him.

The rest of Night Raid surrounded him, standing tall over him in an attempt to make him a little more compliant.

"Alright, all done!" Chelsea announced with a grin as she slapped his back.

"Good. Now then, let's start from the beginning. Who are you?"

"…Like I said earlier, I do not remember. I was hoping that you would be able to tell me. Not knowing my own name is…more disconcerting than I care to admit." The boy said with a slightly downcast look on his face.

Najenda frowned.

She liked to think that she was a fairly good judge of character, and while she did think that he wasn't lying, his claim of amnesia was just a little too farfetched.

She turned to look at Chelsea.

As a master of espionage and infiltration, she was much better at reading people than she was.

Chelsea shook her head.

She could not detect any lies.

Which did lend his story some credibility.

"Very well then. What is the last thing you remember before today?"

"…Pain. I remember being in a lot of pain. I remember trying to keep moving, even though it hurt. I remember my life draining out of my body with every step I took. I remember pushing myself forward anyway, because I knew that either way, I would likely die, but if I kept moving, I might be able to find help."

Some expressions amongst them softened as they listened to him.

A few of them could sympathize, having gone through similar experiences.

"I remember collapsing, my energy completely drained. I remember being absolutely certain that I was going to die. And…I remember being saved."

They perked up in surprise.

They didn't think he had been conscious.

"I vaguely recall a group of strangers finding me and rescuing me. They did not know me, they had no obligation to save me, and they were suspicious of me, but they still did so anyway. I remember their leader getting angry when she learned what had happened, but allowed me to stay anyway. I remember being treated kindly. And I remember feeling gratitude."

Suddenly, his actions tonight made a lot more sense to Najenda.

"So…is that why you helped us tonight? Because we helped you?"

The boy nodded.

"It is common courtesy to repay a debt owed, is it not?"

It was, except most people didn't pay those debts by killing their benefactor's enemies.

It was not like they weren't grateful for it, but it did beg the question: how had he managed to kill Stylish when even they, trained assassins armed with some of the strongest weapons in the world, had struggled?

Judging from his muscle development, though they had atrophied, they had guessed that he was a soldier.

A child soldier, but a soldier nonetheless.

But, the way he had killed Stylish tonight was not at all a soldier's fighting style.

A soldier fought at the forefront, clashing head on with the enemy,

The way he had dispatched the mad scientist, quickly, quietly, without letting anyone know that he was there…

…That was the fighting style of an assassin.

And a pretty damn good one too, to be able to kill a Teigu user.

If his claim of amnesia was true, they were unlikely to get any answers.

Now, the question was, what to do with him?

"Unfortunately, since you've seen our base and our faces, we can't just let you leave…"

The boy did not visibly react to her words, aside from maybe a small frown.

Leaving the fact that he had seen their base of operations and their faces aside, she did not feel comfortable about allowing someone with as much talent at killing as him to just wander off.

She shuddered to think what would happen if Esdeath managed to get her hands on him.

They would gain another fearsome enemy, that was for sure.

In that case, the only real course of action was…

"…So, would you like to join us instead?"

The boy was not the only one who looked surprised.

The others did too.

"Boss, you sure about this?"

"It's better than leaving him running around for the Empire to find."

"Well, yeah, but…"

"…Sorry, but what exactly is it that you all do?"

"Oh boy…" Najenda thought to herself.

It was going to be awkward to explain this to someone who had not seen the Empire's corruption firsthand.

That was when an idea struck her.

"It's a bit hard to explain. We need you to see something first. If you don't mind, that is."

The boy's expression became slightly guarded, but he nodded all the same.

"Very well. Chelsea, Susanoo, when morning comes, take him to the capital and let him see what we're dealing with. But, be careful not to draw any attention, especially not from the Jaegers. Stylish's disappearance is going to put them on high alert."

"Sure~"

"Understood."

"Good. Then, everyone should get some rest. Our cover here is most likely compromised, so we will have to search for a new base."

Tatsumi, Lubbock, Mine and Leone returned to their rooms, which had somehow managed to remain intact despite the invasion.

Five people remained in the room.

"…Should I return to the infirmary?"

"Better to be safe than sorry. Susanoo, stay with him."

The humanoid Teigu nodded and left the room with the boy.

"Well, I'm beat. Guess I'll go to sleep too. I can take any of the empty rooms, right?"

"Just don't get too comfortable. We'll be leaving this place, at least for a while."

Chelsea shrugged and left, leaving Najenda and Akame alone.

The leader of Night Raid turned to their Trump Card.

"Something wrong, Akame? You've been looking unsettled ever since the fight ended."

"…That boy unsettles me."

"I know it might be a rash decision to let him into our ranks so easily, but it's better than having Esdeath or the Prime Minister find him…"

"…It's not that. Murasame…was singing."

Najenda blinked.

"What?"

"Murasame…was happy to be wielded by him. I have never seen it act like that before."

That…was concerning.

Murasame was one of the pickiest Teigu in existence.

Most Teigu were compatible with a user as long as they were strong enough to wield them and had a favorable first impression.

Murasame was different.

Even if those two conditions were fulfilled, Murasame would reject a potential wielder unless they fulfilled another condition.

They must have an absolute conviction to kill.

Even warmongers and mass murderers were not enough to satisfy the cursed sword, for those were ordinary 'deaths'.

Murasame wanted something more.

Akame fulfilled that condition when she first obtained it, having unhesitatingly killed someone she had called a friend, and even now, she was prepared to kill her beloved little sister, Kurome, one of the Jaegers and the only kin she had left, if it came to that.

Her conviction to kill was something that other humans would find abnormal and wouldn't hesitate to say that she had more than one screw loose in her head, but it was exactly what Murasame was looking for.

So, how was that boy able to fulfill that condition, to the point where Murasame reacted to him more strongly than it did with Akame?

* * *

"Suu-san, your posture is too stiff. Try to relax or you might draw attention from the wrong crowd." Chelsea whispered to Susanoo.

"Mm…Sorry." The humanoid Teigu replied as he adjusted, walking in a smoother manner.

"…What about me?"

"Hm…yours is fine, just try not to pay too much attention to it, or you'll end up stiffening."

Just as Najenda asked, Chelsea and Susanoo had brought the boy to the capital to witness the Empire's corruption firsthand.

It was actually more like Chelsea was bringing both of them, since Susanoo hadn't seen the capital himself since the reign of the First Emperor 1000 years ago.

Chelsea had used her Teigu, Phantasmagoria: Gaea Foundation, to disguise them, her as a lanky young man, Susanoo as a strict-looking woman and the boy as a teenage girl.

That way, even if they were found out, their true faces wouldn't be made known to the Empire.

Of course, it was better to not get caught at all, which was why Chelsea was correcting their postures as they made their way past the gates.

As they blended in with the civilians, Chelsea noticed the boy looking around with a frown.

"Something wrong?"

"…This place doesn't feel right. The people look happy on the surface, but the air reeks of fear."

The infiltration expert looked momentarily surprised.

"Now, that's impressive."

The outskirts of the capital were where the less privileged citizens lived, completely unimportant to the Empire, existing solely to be entertainment for the corrupt upper-class.

There was a reason why their demographic had the highest casualties.

They were right to be afraid.

"If you think it's bad here, just wait until you get deeper into the capital. It only gets worse from here on out."

Because it was not just cowed citizens who lived in the inner capital.

"As for the reason why…well, that's what we're here to show you. Come on, our destination isn't too far from here."

Najenda picked a good day for this outing.

As it so happened, there was a public display scheduled for today.

Chelsea led them to one of the capital's many plazas, where a large crowd had gathered.

All to ogle the mangled bodies of a good man and his family.

"Who were they?" The boy asked as he looked up at the corpses of an old man, an equally old woman and two young men, tied haphazardly to a stake.

"That was the former Minister of Infrastructure, his wife and his two sons."

"What did they do?"

"Nothing."

"…Nothing?" The boy repeated, a bit of incredulity seeping into his voice.

"Mm hm. They didn't do anything wrong. They didn't steal anything, they didn't deface anything, they didn't hurt anyone. They didn't even so much as litter, as far as we know. They were only 'guilty' of one thing: they argued with the Prime Minister."

"…That's all?"

"That's all. They aren't the first ones, and they probably won't be the last either. And that isn't all. Both of the sons were married, but neither of their wives is up there. Care to guess why?"

"I get the feeling I won't like the answer."

"You won't. The Prime Minister is 'taking special care of them'. I don't think I have to tell you what that actually means."

The boy's blank expression was replaced by one of disgust.

"And no one is stopping him?"

"Who's left to stop it? The previous Emperor and Empress died 'mysteriously' shortly after the Prime Minister was appointed, their only son, the current Emperor, is nothing more than a puppet, the echelons of the Empire are teeming with corruption, the few good ones among them are being killed off, the nobility have embraced this, the people are just toys to be played with and thrown away when broken, terrified out of their minds, like you already noticed, and any rebels are crushed by the Empire's military force, led by that warmonger Esdeath."

"…This is the Empire that has thrived for a thousand years?"

"It wasn't always like this. During the reign of the First Emperor, when I was created, the Empire was a beacon of hope. People from all over the world flocked to its banner, seeking a better life, which the Empire always delivered. I wouldn't go so far as to say that it was perfect. It had its problems, but they were always dealt with swiftly and effectively. It saddens me to see just how far it has fallen since then." Susanoo said solemnly.

"And as long as the Prime Minister and his ilk are around, things will only get worse from here on out."

They looked on at the gruesome display for a few moments longer.

Rather, the boy was looking on, while Chelsea and Susanoo were observing him.

They could practically hear his thoughts racing.

Or maybe that was the sound of his blood boiling.

"…I want to see more. Deeper in the capital."

Chelsea paused.

Her first instinct was to say no, even if it hurt their chances of successfully recruiting him.

Going deeper into the capital meant getting closer to the palace, which in turn meant getting closer to Esdeath and the Jaegers.

And if they weren't disguised, she would have already said it.

But, they were, and that was enough for her to consider entertaining the idea.

"…Alright, but not too far in. And if we see any of the Jaegers, we walk away immediately."

The boy nodded, and the three went in.

With every step towards the inner districts they took, the more his face contorted in disgust.

The smell of fear in the air had given way to something even worse.

The rancid stench of corruption.

Past the outskirts of the capital where the lower and middle-class lived was the residential district for the upper crust.

Where the nobility, the Prime Minister's primary ass kissers, lived, indulging in atrocities of their liking.

He didn't last five minutes before he had enough.

It looked like his recruitment was a success, as terrible as the method had been.

The boy turned on his heels.

"Let's go. I have an answer for Najenda-san."

The three departed from the capital, with the Empire none the wiser as to what had just transpired.

They would remain unaware for a while that they had gained yet another fearsome enemy.

* * *

"Where do I sign up?"

That was the first thing the boy said when he walked into the meeting room after returning.

Najenda looked up at him.

"I take it you saw for yourself what it is we're dealing with?"

He didn't really have to answer.

The look of disgust on his face said plenty.

"Well then, it's about time I explained what it is we do."

"I can hazard a guess at this point. You're part of a rebel group fighting against the Empire, right?"

Najenda took note of his perceptiveness.

"You are correct. We of Night Raid are part of the Revolutionary Army, currently the largest rebel group currently opposing the Empire. More specifically, we're one of its covert divisions, in charge of carrying out reconnaissance and assassinations in the Empire. I believe you have a rare talent that we would like to have around. But, are you absolutely certain you're fine with joining up with us?"

"The only other alternative being the Empire that's causing all of this injustice in the first place? I think I'll go with you guys."

"Just so we're clear, even though we're opposing the Empire, what we do cannot be called justice in even the most remote sense. You are aware of that?"

"…Of course. No matter the motivations behind it, murder is still murder."

"And you're okay with that?"

"…Even now, the innocent are suffering under the rule of the Empire. _If we don't fight for them, who else will?_ "

Those words resonated deeply with Najenda.

That had been her whole reason for defecting from the Empire and joining the Revolutionary Army.

She smiled.

She still had lingering doubts about him, and the fact that he was compatible with Murasame was worrisome, but she just had a good feeling about this one.

"It's good to have you on board. I suppose our first order of business is to think of a name for you. We can't just keep calling you 'boy'…"

"…Yuu and Mitsuki."

"Pardon?"

"I think they're names. I have no idea if either of them is mine, but even after trying my hardest, they're all I can recall before all of this."

"Yuu and Mitsuki…those names sound like they originated from the outskirts of the Empire's territory. I could investigate, but that would take time and resources, both of which we're a little short on right now. Which do you prefer?"

"…Mitsuki sounds more feminine, so I think I'll go with Yuu."

"Very well then, Yuu…."

Najenda extended her prosthetic hand for a shake, which he reciprocated.

"…Allow me to be the first to welcome you to Night Raid. Now…"

"… _We have work to do._ "

* * *

Present

Najenda frowned and signaled her guards to prepare for a sortie, unsure of this group's allegiances.

The four of them maneuvered their steeds and surrounded the group, bringing out their Teigu in preparation.

Extase, Spectator, Black Marlin and Scream.

These four Teigu covered a good number of combat roles and could respond to virtually any trick they pulled.

The group floundered, as though they weren't sure what to do.

So, either they had no prior combat experience, or they weren't enemies.

Well, except for one.

The girl with brown hair, tied with a green ribbon.

The moment her guards had gotten into position, her eyes had hardened and she had subconsciously taken a stance.

She looked out of place with the rest of the group.

That was enough for her to get suspicious.

"Identify yourselves." She demanded as she pointed a pistol at them.

"W-We're from Midgard!" The oldest woman exclaimed after hesitating for a short while.

The way she spoke was as though her words were supposed to mean something, but…

"Midgard…? Never heard of it."

Which in itself was a surprise, considering that the Empire knew more about the world's geography than any other nation.

"N-Never heard of it…? You know, the tropical island south of Japan? The school and containment facility for Ds?"

They continued to throw out name after name that seemed to mean something to them, but absolutely nothing to Najenda.

Or any of her guards, by the looks on their faces.

"We're not getting anywhere with this. Seize them. We'll properly interrogate them when we get back to the capital."

Her guards began to charge forward, preparing to carry out her orders.

Then, the group, sans the oldest one, generated black balls in their hands.

Something Najenda was familiar with.

"Halt!"

At the same time that Najenda gave the counter order, the balls molded into a variety of decorative weapons.

Ordinary ones, like a bow, two spears, a warhammer, along with strange ones like a book, a glove and a staff.

The girls were facing them with their weapons at the ready, but judging by the way most of them were trembling, they were obviously new to this.

"P-Please, we mean no harm! We're just looking for someone!"

Those abilities, unfamiliar terms, the fact that they had just dropped…

Najenda had a fairly good idea of who it was they were searching for.

"…By any chance, is the person you're searching for a boy with blue hair and eyes, approximately your age?"

Her guards looked at her weirdly, as though asking why she was entertaining them.

However, one of the girls was startled and stared at her with an almost manic look of desperation and hope.

Najenda was taken aback, though she was careful not to let it show.

"Do you know my brother!? Please, tell me where he is!"

" _Brother?"_

Odd, Yuu had never mentioned having a sister.

Then again, he wouldn't have, considering he didn't remember anything about himself.

"I'm sorry, you are?"

"Eh? Oh, my name is Mononobe Mitsuki…"

Najenda's eyes widened at the familiar sounding name.

Though she was still somewhat suspicious, her expression had softened considerably.

"I see. All of you, stand down. This is Yuu's little sister."

Her guards and the group all looked at her in surprise.

"Then, you do know my brother!"

"Yes, I do. I apologize for the scare. We can't be too careful these days. However, I think we can make an exception for the little sister of one of our war heroes."

"W-War hero? Isn't he our age…?" One of the girls muttered, just loudly enough for Najenda to hear her.

If only they knew what a hellhole this country was just 2 years ago.

"A-Anyway, can you please take us to my brother?" The girl who seemed to be Yuu's little sister asked, the look of desperation and hope in her eyes not faded in the least.

"You might have to wait a long time. He's not in the country. He hasn't been for quite a while."

The girl froze, and the heartbroken look on her face was so intense that Najenda felt a little bad for her.

"Well, let's save that discussion for later. You all look exhausted."

And it was true.

Their clothes were dirty, torn in a few places, and some of them looked like they could pass out at any moment.

"There's a place you can rest not far from here. Shall we go?" Najenda said as she beckoned her steed to turn around.

The group looked wary, but knew that they didn't really have much of a choice.

Even if this was a trap, the alternative would be standing their ground.

And from what Najenda had seen, they would be beaten down very, very quickly, especially with the four Teigu users present.

She and her guards led the group to Night Raid's old base.

It wasn't in use anymore, but she still kept it, the one located deeper in the mountainous region and the one closer to the capital all in working order, partly because she never knew when she would need to use them again, and partly because they held many memories, both good and bad, for her.

And for the other survivors as well.

That meant that there was food, running water and beds among other necessities available.

And it was as good a place as any to question them.

Within two or three hours, they had gathered in the meeting room, where Najenda used to brief the rest of Night Raid on their next mission.

It had been two years since the last time she had done that, just before the final assault on the capital, but it seemed like just yesterday that the five remaining combat-able members had stepped out of the base, ready to put an end to the 1000 year old Empire's reign and bring about a much needed era of peace and prosperity.

The girls had taken a bath and a short nap, and eaten a hearty meal prepared by yours truly, and they were certainly looking a lot better than they did back out in the woods.

"Nice place. Do you actually live here?" One of the girls, the one with short black hair, hazel eyes, bearing a resemblance to the oldest one, commented as they looked around the base that had been carved into the side of a mountain.

She decided that she probably shouldn't tell them that she had rigged the whole place to blow in case anyone…unsavory came along.

"I did once, two years ago, along with Yuu and our comrades."

The girls looked surprised, though as Najenda has expected, Mitsuki had the greatest reaction.

"Eh? Nii-san once lived here?"

"Yes. In fact, the bedroom you chose just so happens to be his, not that it's seen much use since he left the country."

And not much while he was in the country either.

This had been Night Raid's first base, which was compromised after Stylish's assault.

They had relocated to the base in the mountains just days after the attack. Yuu had only stayed a night or two at best, not counting the time he had spent unconscious.

Najenda had been surprised to see Mitsuki almost immediately pick his old room to nap in, and wondered whether it was sheer coincidence, or if she had some sort of sixth sense when it came to her brother.

"Living in a place like this…I'm sorry, but what exactly was it that you did back then?"

Ah, and here came the awkward part.

Yuu had been one thing, since he had obviously seen combat beforehand, and may even have killed before joining Night Raid, but these girls were definitely not battle-tested.

At least, not against humans.

"I don't mind telling you, but first, I have to warn you that one, what I tell you can never be repeated to anyone else, and two, you probably won't like what you hear. Do you still want to hear this?" Najenda said in a serious tone as she fixed them with a stern gaze, impressing upon them that she was not fooling around.

This seemed familiar somehow.

She recalled telling Yuu something along the same lines when he first made the decision to join Night Raid.

The girls suddenly looked apprehensive, getting the feeling that this was not something meant for their ears, but…

…They nodded, regardless.

"…Very well then. I suppose I should start with a recount of what the previous regime was like…"

Najenda began to weave them the tale of the corrupt old Empire, and the Revolutionary Army that opposed it.

They were going to be here for a while.

* * *

Najenda's account of the events of two years ago had taken almost two hours, and the sun had begun to set, giving way to night.

Horror did not even begin to describe Mitsuki's reaction to what she had told them.

A seemingly clichéd story of a hellish Empire that had tormented its own people, and the Revolutionary Army that had toppled that regime by force, a clash between two powers that had claimed countless lives.

And the role that Yuu had played as one of the Revolutionary Army's strongest combatants.

Najenda had not said it explicitly, but the implication was that Yuu had also taken his fair share of lives.

Admittedly, for the sake of the people who suffered under the old Empire's rule, which only made things marginally better.

Evidently, it was not just his physical appearance that had changed.

And memory loss?

Yuu had complete memory loss?

She wondered whether there was even anything of the Yuu she remembered left in him.

Once that painful discussion was over, Najenda had offered to bring them to the capital, so that they could see the people for themselves and know that she was telling them the truth, and so that she could show them their most updated iteration of the world map to help them figure out where they were, and where Yuu was currently.

Brynhildr Class had obviously been leery of trusting a, by her own admission, murderer, but considering that the alternative was wandering around unknown territory in the hopes of finding civilization, following Najenda was the arguably safer option.

And from the way the citizens of the capital were acting, Najenda's story seemed to have some credibility to it.

They'd have to be blind to not see how happy the people were, acting as though a great burden had been lifted from their shoulders, even two years after the fact.

Some were even cheering at the sight of the silver-haired woman, who simply smiled and waved back.

"It's hard to believe that this place was once under a tyrannical regime." Miyako commented.

"If you were not around two years ago, you would definitely think so. But for those of us who lived through the old regime, the scars are still fresh. Quite literally in some places, if you look around."

They did, and saw what she meant.

Even in the darkness of the night, some buildings stood out from the others, looking very obviously new compared to the rest, as though they were just recently constructed.

In fact, some of the older buildings had some slightly out of place newer parts, likely to patch up whatever damage had been done to them.

The area outside the capital was even worse.

On their way in, she had seen massive trenches in the ground and scorched earth surrounding them.

It was as though a massive high-powered laser had cut through.

If Najenda's story was to be believed, all of this damage had been incurred during the Revolutionary Army's final siege on the capital.

Through the efforts of their group, Night Raid, several key figures in the corrupt government had been dealt with, and their military force had been greatly reduced as well.

They had finally succeeded in cornering the Empire, and went for the final push to overthrow the regime once and for all.

But, as it was often said, 'there is no animal more dangerous than one that has been cornered'.

With little else to lose, the Empire had unleashed their secret weapon.

Najenda had not gone into much detail about what it was, much like everything else in her story, but it was something powerful enough that it left all of this destruction throughout the capital as mere collateral damage while attacking the invading forces.

They successfully defeated it, but both sides were decimated in the process.

Shortly after, the Revolutionary Army fought against the Imperial Army's last general, a charge led by Yuu and an elite squad, resulting in the successful toppling of the corrupt old Empire and the rise of this new, prosperous one.

And a few months later, Yuu and one of his surviving comrades departed from the country.

"We're here." Najenda spoke up.

Mitsuki looked up…and up and up and up at the tall walls that separated the palace grounds from the rest of the capital.

They weren't the tallest structure she had ever seen, not even close, but their dark color combined with the darkness of the night sky made them quite intimidating.

"Ah, General Najenda, welcome back! We were beginning to get worried!" One of the gatekeepers said as they approached.

"Sorry, an unexpected situation came up. Anything happen while I was gone?"

"No, nothing out of the ordinary. By the way…who are these people? They don't seem familiar…" The gatekeeper asked, turning a suspicious gaze towards them.

"No need to worry. They're with me. Could you let us through?"

"Hm…well, if you're vouching for them, I suppose there's no problem. Open the gates!" He called out to whoever was manning the gates on the other side of the wall.

A few seconds passed, and the massive gates that blocked entry into the palace began to lift off the ground with a loud groan and a rumble.

They passed through the now open gateway.

The palace too looked relatively new compared to the older parts of the capital.

It had apparently taken quite a bit of damage during the siege, since this was where the Empire's weapon had been deployed.

Najenda led them through the palace's many hallways, twisting and turning around corners and side passages so many times that Mitsuki lost track of which cardinal direction she was facing.

They paused when they crossed paths with a gruff-looking middle-aged man, dressed in a lab coat and smelling faintly of tobacco.

"Is that you, General? What are you doing in this part of the palace at this time of night?" He asked Najenda, an eyebrow raised.

"Hello, Doctor. I'm taking these people to the archives."

"Hm? And who are they?"

"That's a little complicated, but this one is Yuu's little sister." Najenda replied, gesturing towards Mitsuki.

The doctor stared at her in surprise.

"Yuu's…I see, you're showing them the world map, aren't you?"

"That is my intention. We still know very little about the Eastern Territories, even with Yuu's and Akame's reports, but at the very least, I can show them where it is in relation to the Empire."

"Then allow me to join you. I was on my way to the archives as well."

"Oh? Is that so? Whatever for? Most published papers are in the library, not the archives."

"I've already been through all of them, but I wasn't able to find anything on the subject of Danger Beast transformations. I'm hoping there are some papers in the archives that had been censored by the old regime."

"Danger Beast…I see, you still haven't given up on curing Tatsumi's…ailment." Najenda said.

Mitsuki had no idea what they were talking about, the term 'Danger Beast' unfamiliar to her, but it seemed important to the both of them.

And Tatsumi…the name had come up numerous times during her recount of the events of two years ago.

He was another member of Night Raid, one of Yuu's comrades and one of the five who had survived past the rebellion.

Was he ill?

Najenda had paused, as though she was about to say something else, but remembered present company and chose to use the word 'ailment' instead.

She wasn't sure of the implications of that.

"No, I haven't. He says he's fine with how he is now, but he's obviously struggling to adjust even now."

"Yes, years of experience and muscle memory don't fade so easily. It'll take a while for him to get used to the way his body is now."

"If I have anything to say about it, he won't have to go through that. It frankly offends my pride as a doctor to not be able to cure my patients fully."

"Heh, that sounds just like you."

"Hmph, don't act as though you're not doing the same thing. I know for a fact that you asked Yuu and Akame to keep an eye out for anything in the Eastern Territories that could potentially help Tatsumi."

"Well, cat's out of the bag, I suppose."

They did not say anything else, and fell into a companionable silence.

At least for the two of them.

It was just uncomfortable to Mitsuki.

So, she decided to try and make conversation.

"Um…excuse me, but how do you know my brother? Were you a part of the Revolutionary Army too?"

"Hm? Yes, I was, though these days, I'm just a simple doctor and researcher."

"You mean, chief director of both the medical and the R&D divisions." Najenda corrected, startling Brynhildr Class with his high positions.

"If you want to talk semantics, I suppose. I was also the one who operated on Yuu."

Mitsuki stopped in her tracks upon hearing those words.

"Wait…operated!? Did something happen to my brother!? Is he okay!?"

The doctor turned to look at her in confusion, and then looked at Najenda.

"You didn't tell her?"

Najenda sighed.

"I tried to avoid going into details. Can't risk any chances of a leak."

"I see. Well, little lady, you don't have to worry. The procedures I performed on your brother weren't to cure any illness. They were augmentation procedures to enhance his physical performance."

That barely made her feel any better.

"What kind of augmentation?" She pressed.

"Let's not go any further into that topic. The walls have ears here." Najenda cut in firmly.

Mitsuki was about to ignore her and grill the doctor for more information, but the two of them stopped in front of a set of double doors.

"This is it. The Royal Archives."

They opened the doors, and the slightly sweet smell of aged paper wafted through the air.

The spacious room was filled with bookshelves as high as the ceiling, each one overflowing with books, scrolls and papers.

Firill, the bibliophile among them, looked like she had just found her own personal paradise.

"It's amazing all of this survived the siege two years ago. I suppose there was a benefit to being placed in one of the auxiliary buildings. The library wasn't anywhere as lucky."

"Thankfully, most of what was lost was publically published, so it wasn't too difficult to obtain replacements. Now then, where's the map…?"

Najenda ventured deeper into the room, and soon disappeared from sight behind all of the shelves.

"I suppose I should be looking for those papers too…" The doctor muttered, an obvious attempt to escape from Mitsuki and her persistent questioning, and slipped away.

She could see that she wouldn't be getting any answers out of him.

Not right now, anyway.

She turned to see Firill, practically vibrating in place.

"Firill-san, if you really want to read, just go ahead." Mitsuki said, feeling sorry for her friend.

The third princess of Erlia paused, and looked at Haruka, who had the highest authority among them.

"…Can I really?"

Haruka sighed, but smiled indulgently.

"I don't see why not. If they had a problem with us reading anything, they would have said something. Just be sure not to damage anything or take anything out of the room."

Firill shot towards the closest bookshelf, grabbing a book at random and opening it up.

She didn't get very far.

"…Huh?"

"What's wrong?"

"…I don't recognize this language. It definitely doesn't look Japanese."

She showed them the book she was holding.

Just as she said, the language it was written in was definitely not Japanese.

Not even close enough to be a dialect.

The letters were from the Latin Alphabet, but as far as Mitsuki could tell, it wasn't English, and the little she knew of French, German and Spanish did not match either.

And judging by the increasingly confused looks on the faces of her classmates and teacher, they had no idea what it was either.

And in the first place, it didn't really make sense for the language to be Latin-based, because they had been conversing with Najenda and the doctor in fluent Japanese all this time.

"What's going on here?"

"Found it…what are you all doing?"

Najenda returned with a large scroll in her hands.

"Um…Najenda-san, what language is this?"

"…The unified language? Why, is something wrong?"

"It's just that…we don't recognize it."

"You don't…But, this is the language that most of the world speaks. And the one you're speaking right now, in fact."

"We know, but in written form, our language is completely different from this."

Najenda stared, a gleam of skepticism in her eye, which Mitsuki could not blame her for.

She would feel the same if she was in her shoes.

Then, her expression became a bit more thoughtful.

"Well, it's not impossible, I suppose. Yuu couldn't read or write when we first met him either. I attributed it to his memory loss, but it could be because he was from a country that only adopted the spoken form of our language…"

Adopted?

The Japanese language was more than a thousand years old, older than this country was.

If anything, it should be the other way around…

"…Well, anyway, let's take a look at this map, shall we?"

Najenda unfurled the map and laid it out on the table in the center of the room.

Mitsuki took one look at it and froze.

Something was very, very wrong here.

"The Empire is here, taking up most of the land on the center part of the continent, with smaller foreign countries in the north, south and west. To the east, past the ocean, are the Eastern Territories, where Yuu is right now. We don't know…Okay, what's wrong now?"

Najenda paused in her explanation of the map when she looked at their paling countenances.

"…Najenda-san, is this map accurate?"

"Hm? Well, it might be a little biased with the Empire in the center, but we were the ones who drew it. Other than that and the vagueness of the Eastern Territories, it should be mostly accurate up to recent months. Why?"

Mitsuki did not answer immediately.

Blood was draining from her face.

The map that Najenda was showing them…looked completely different from the one they knew.

The landmasses looked completely different, in different positions even when accounting for the orientation.

The Empire for example, spanned several tens of thousands of kilometers from north to south, and almost just as much from east to west.

That was much, much larger than even Russia, Earths's largest inhabited country.

There were basically only 2 continents on this map, the one the Empire was on, and whatever was in the Eastern Territories.

Earth had 7.

Suddenly, an idea struck her, one that would explain the discrepancies.

The sudden change in the time of day, the low level of technology, the language they did not recognize in written form, the different size, positioning and number of landmasses…

As impossible as it seemed, the idea that she had thought of was the only one that made sense at the moment.

"I think…we're in a different world."

* * *

And that's a wrap.

Ended shorter than the prologue, but this seemed like a good place to stop.

I'm not going to be covering all of the events of Akame ga Kill in the past segments. That would take forever.

I will only be covering the battles that were most important for Yuu's development.

So, I think there will only be about 3 more chapters with past segments, which should also be about the time when Yuu and Akame meet with Brynhildr Class in the present.

That's all for now.

As always, please read and review.


	3. Chapter 2: Revelations and Recollections

Past

The loud, grating sound of metal striking metal echoed in the valley.

Susanoo fluidly shifted his cudgel-like weapon, blocking strikes from Night Raid's newest recruit.

His muscles had recovered from their atrophy, and the balanced meals that Susanoo cooked along with the constant training ensured they developed properly.

He wasn't very strong compared to Night Raid's frontline combatants, but for what he lacked in power, he made up for in speed and precision.

Though they came from different angles, they were all aimed for the same spot.

Susanoo's magatama-shaped core embedded in his chest.

The humanoid Teigu himself acknowledged that having his core exposed like that was a massive design flaw, even though it was not so fragile that the strength of a human was capable of leaving a scratch on it, but it was impressive that Yuu was able to pinpoint it as his weakness from the get go, especially without knowing beforehand.

It had been two weeks since their first spar, when they had first retreated into this unexplored region to train while the Revolutionary Army constructed a new base for them, and he still found it incredible.

It wasn't just with him.

The back of Incursio's knees, Mine's back, Leone's tail while transformed, Yuu was exceptional at sniffing out his opponents' weaknesses.

Not just that, but he was instinctively aware of the best way to defeat his opponent.

In their very first spar, Susanoo was caught completely off guard and was subsequently knocked on his ass, a first for him.

After that, he never underestimated Yuu again, and never suffered another defeat, but was pushed to the brink every time.

He wasn't using his full power, of course.

Yuu was a skilled opponent, but he was still very squishy, not having any defenses that could block the full power of a Teigu.

He had kept his own capabilities restrained to a level where he wouldn't accidently kill the boy when he attacked, only increasing his power when Yuu began to seriously press him.

It happened quite often.

The boy was a very fast learner, adjusting to Susanoo's strength and fighting style quickly to gain the advantage again.

Though for some reason, that ability only worked on human-looking opponents, as they found out when fighting the local Danger Beasts, his instincts and quick thinking the only things that kept him from being eviscerated by a particularly vicious carnivore.

Susanoo was not the only one helping Yuu train.

Each of the senior members of Night Raid, except Najenda, was taking turns to teach him what they could, such as Mine's long range combat, Lubbock's battle tactics and subterfuge and Leone's hand-to-hand combat, all of which he was competent enough in, but the ones whose training he particularly took to were the other four.

Chelsea was in charge of teaching him the basics of espionage and human anatomy and observation, in addition to the simpler things, like how to read, since they had found out that while he could speak the local tongue fluently, he couldn't read a single word, and basic knowledge that he needed to know, like the Empire's layout and landmarks.

They figured his proficiency was because of his amnesia, leaving his head empty enough for him to absorb the new knowledge like a sponge.

She also liked to take the time to tease him, and the lack of reaction from her milder attempts only encouraged her to escalate to lewder acts, which admittedly had managed to elicit a blush.

Susanoo was teaching him the art of combat, confronting the enemy head on, which was what they were working on now.

Yuu's build didn't make him an ideal frontline fighter, but it was better to be forced into a direct combat situation with some training than with none at all.

The humanoid Teigu had also taught him the finer points of more menial tasks like hunting, foraging, fishing, and at his own behest, cooking, which gave him something to do when he wasn't out training with the rest.

Tatsumi, being the least experienced aside from Yuu himself, didn't have much to teach aside from short sword fighting, which he had taken to quite well, using one as his weapon of choice.

Speaking of the current Incursio user, he was sitting on one of the rocky outcrops of the surrounding cliffs, waiting for his turn with Susanoo and to observe their spar.

Tatsumi could not pick up on his opponents' weaknesses instinctually like Susanoo and Yuu could, so the only way he could become proficient at it was to observe as much as he could.

So far, he had yet to miss any of their spars, usually tagging along when it was time.

The knife came towards him once more, but rather than aiming at the core, it was aimed for his eye.

Susanoo knew this strategy.

By focusing attacks on the same spot, the opponent unconsciously began to focus defense on that spot too, leaving the rest of the body open for an attack.

Yuu had already done this once in a previous spar, and if it weren't for Susanoo's short reaction time, he would have lost again.

He blocked the blow with mace-like end of his weapon and when Yuu rounded for a strike to his core, he spun it in his hand, knocking the knife off course and causing Yuu to stumble.

Susanoo's internal clock hit the 10 minute mark.

Time was up.

The humanoid Teigu grabbed hold of the outstretched arm and quickly twisted it behind Yuu's back, restraining him.

"That's enough for now."

Yuu nodded, his face slightly strained from the uncomfortable position his arm was in.

Susanoo released him and the boy relaxed, rubbing his sore shoulder.

Tatsumi hopped down from his perch and approached them.

"Intense as ever. Hey Yuu, how about a spar with me? I won't use Incursio, but other than that, no holds barred." He offered with a grin, holding Incursio's inactive form up in a gesture of challenge.

Yuu shook his head.

"As tempting as the offer is, I don't have time for it. I'm training with Akame next."

"Ah…"

Tatsumi directed a look of sympathy at him.

Akame was teaching him the art of assassination, striking the opponent from the shadows and eliminating them before they even knew he was there.

This was one area he particularly excelled in, because he had the uncanny ability to suppress his presence so greatly that even Akame herself could barely detect him when he was at point blank range.

If his target was not even aware he was there, there was practically no chance they would detect him before he struck, making him a terrifyingly effective assassin.

He probably should have been worried about the way Najenda's eyes had glimmered when they had told her about it.

In the middle of their second week here, by Najenda's order, Akame was to beat everything she knew about assassination into him as best as she could, resulting in him spending more time training with her than almost anything else in a day, even sleeping.

To what end, they had no idea, but Akame was a devoted teacher, and extremely dangerous even without Murasame, and if Yuu hadn't been a very fast learner, he had no doubt that he would have had a number of permanent scars as a reminder of her lessons.

"Don't worry about her. I'm sure she'll warm up to you eventually."

"Yeah, I just hope I'm not confetti by then."

During their first training session, he had snuck up on her, his presence completely concealed, and when he made himself known, she jolted, spun around and drew her katana, slicing him across the chest in a single quick motion.

If that had been Murasame she was using, he would have been dead in a second.

She had been apologetic about the incident, but it had almost repeated itself several times before she managed to catch herself before she could injure him.

All of it stemmed from the unease she seemed to feel around him.

He wasn't sure, but he thought that it might have had something to do with how seamlessly he wielded Murasame, which, from what he had gathered, was a very picky and difficult Teigu to handle.

Only someone with an exceptionally strong affinity with death was capable of using the cursed blade without consequences, which he admitted was a good enough reason for her to be wary of him.

Yuu himself was unsettled knowing that he had been able to so easily wield such a bloodthirsty weapon.

It had been over a month since they had first arrived in this region, and most of that time he had spent training with Akame, so he liked to believe that she had warmed up a little, but it was hard to tell.

"Well, good luck, I guess. I think you're going to need it."

"Thanks. I should get going."

"No need. Training's put on hold. Boss wants us to gather immediately. A new Danger Beast species has been attacking people near the capital. We're heading back to deal with it."

Akame hopped down into the valley, bearing a grim message.

It appeared that their time here was at an end.

* * *

Just a few hours ago, they left the region and gathered in a hideout the Revolutionary Army had carved out for them, located in a mountainous area close to the capital, though further away than the old base had been.

They had returned to a terrified populace.

Danger Beasts unlike any ever seen before, humanlike, rudimentarily intelligent with above average physical capabilities, had appeared in the area south of the capital, attacking anyone they came across.

The Jaegers had their hands full repelling them, because for every one they killed, another seemed to pop up someplace else, and with them being too strong for regular infantrymen to handle, they were spread thin all over the place.

With most of the Jaegers gone during the day, to Yuu, it had seemed like an opportune time to infiltrate the capital and eliminate as many targets as they could, but the fact remained that the people were in danger from these unknown Danger Beasts.

The Revolutionary Army had risen in the first place to safeguard the peoples' interests, and even if it felt like they were helping the Empire, they decided to join in on the extermination of the Danger Beasts.

That was why Night Raid had been deployed all over the southern part of the region, hunting down and clearing out as many Danger Beasts as they could.

Tatsumi was paired with Lubbock in the mountains, with the former in charge of fighting and the latter making sure that no one else got close, Leone and Mine in the forests, where the both would be able to take advantage of the terrain, Leone with her animal instincts and Mine high up in a sniper's nest, Susanoo and Najenda, the most well-rounded of them, closer to the small villages populating the area to head off any that ventured too close, and he and Akame, possessing the least destructive tendencies, in the mines where they had reportedly first appeared so that the whole place wouldn't come crumbling down on them.

Chelsea hung back in the base, since her fighting style wasn't suited for anything other humans.

The moment he and Akame got close to the entrance, their faces scrunched up at the rank odor spewing out of the mines.

A foul, aged mixture of blood, bile and who knows what other fluids.

This place was supposed to be where they were first sighted, so it was possible that there was a nest in there somewhere.

A rumbling from inside the mine shaft caught their attention and put them on guard.

Akame drew Murasame and Yuu pulled out a short sword that Tatsumi had made for him.

"…Be careful." Akame said as the sound grew closer and closer.

"…I know."

The next moment, multiple bulky forms surged out of the mine en masse, allowing them to get a good first look at the Danger Beasts that had been terrorizing the people.

Yuu could see where the description of humanoid came from.

All of them had the same basic look.

Large and bulky humanoids with a large cylinder growing out of their backs, mechanical parts sticking out on several places on their body, and a face that looked like it was made of melted wax.

They roared incoherently and charged at them.

Yuu tensed, his ability activating, allowing him to perceive each of their weaknesses.

He shifted to avoid a punch from the first one to reach him, slicing through its abdomen and spine in the process.

Using the momentum, he cut through the second, and then the third, hopping over its carcass to stab the fourth through its head and splitting a fifth down the middle as he landed.

It didn't even take 2 full seconds.

And as fast as he was, Akame was even faster.

Already, there was a trail of bodies left in her wake as she tore through their ranks like a razor sharp whirlwind of death, the black markings of Murasame's poison snaking across their body, converging on the heart.

It wasn't long before the entrance fell silent, the last body hitting the ground where it lay unmoving.

Yuu began to relax, not sensing any more enemies nearby, his ability deactivating.

He frowned at the carcasses strewn about the ground, and voiced something that was bothering him aloud.

"These things…don't they seem…artificial?"

"Mm. I noticed while fighting them. They didn't just look human. They move and smell vaguely like humans too."

"So, they were once human?"

"Maybe. If they were, someone modified them into their current forms. But, this level of sophistication shouldn't be possible with the Empire's current level of technology. In that case, it must have been…"

"A Teigu, huh?"

"And there's only one Teigu that we know of that can perform modifications to this extent: Perfector."

"So, Stylish?"

"And considering that this was where the first sighting of these Danger Beasts was reported, we'll most likely find one of his labs somewhere inside."

"Should we report this to Boss?"

"…Let's investigate first. Make sure there really is something in there. And we might as well clear out any others that are still inside."

"Got it."

The two of them ventured deeper into the mines.

Within the tunnels, the mangled corpses of half eaten miners were strewn about as haphazardly as the carcasses of the Danger Beasts they had killed at the entrance.

And the deeper they went, the worse the visibility got, though it really wasn't that much of an issue.

They had been trained to be able to fight as well in the dark as they did in the day.

Their eyes had already adjusted to the darkness, so while they couldn't see as clearly as they did in the day, they wouldn't be bumping into anything.

And even without sight, they still had their other four senses to depend on, all of which were just as important.

It appeared that the group they had killed at the entrance was the bulk of those still around, because when they encountered stragglers, it was only one or two at a time, quickly dispatched so that they wouldn't encounter any disadvantages in the confined space of the tunnels and to prevent any damage to the mines' structural integrity.

They eventually reached a tunnel with shards of wood on the ground and the remnants of a wooden frame on the ceiling and walls.

According to the diagram of the mine's layout that Najenda had provided them with, this tunnel was supposed to be fenced off, off limits to anyone without express permission from the Empire, but it appeared that something had smashed the blockage from the other side.

It was a fairly safe bet to say that it was the modified Danger Beasts.

Which meant that if there was a lab in here, it was probably down this tunnel.

As they followed the path, Yuu thought about something else that was bothering him.

"…Assuming that these things really are Stylish's creations, why are they wandering around now? I can't imagine that a scientist of his level would have such weak containment facilities that a few days' absence was all it took for them to break out."

"…Perhaps he set them to be released if he did not return for a certain period of time?"

"Maybe, but what if he encountered a situation where he couldn't avoid being away for a long time? He should have taken that into account as well."

"…I see what you're getting at. Rather than them breaking out, it's more likely that _a third party released them_."

"That's what I was thinking, but why just let them run around freely? What's their end game?"

"…That's not important now. We're just here to investigate and exterminate them. We can think about this with the rest later."

"I guess so…" Yuu replied, and then stopped.

Movement in the darkness just ahead.

One, two, three, four…there were seven of them.

More than they had encountered in the mines, but less than at the entrance.

These were probably the last of them.

He and Akame charged, weapons at the ready to wipe them out.

He cleaved through the first one he reached, his ability beginning to activate, but when he slashed at the second, a loud sound of something breaking echoed loudly in the tunnels.

He didn't even need to look to tell what had happened.

The sudden change in the weight in his hand was all it took.

His short sword had shattered, leaving him weaponless.

He cursed as he threw the hilt aside, ducking under a wild haymaker and slammed his palms into the attacker's gut, knocking it backwards.

This…was a little problematic.

He had a fair amount of skill and experience in hand-to-hand combat thanks to the training sessions he had with Leone, but his physical strength was average in Night Raid, only about on par with Mine and Lubbock, neither of whom specialized in it either.

He wasn't sure if it would be enough to take down such hardy opponents.

Then, his instincts took over as his ability fully activated, and he just knew what he had to do next.

He held a hand out and willed 'something' to appear and take shape.

And immediately, a weight dropped into his hand.

Yuu gripped the handle of the short sword that had spontaneously appeared out of thin air…no, the short sword _he had created_ , and cut the attacking Danger Beast down.

He whirled, preparing to attack to deal with the others, only to find the remaining five already dead, dealt with by Akame, who was staring at him.

Or rather, at the short sword in his hand.

"How did you do that?"

"I…don't know. I just knew that I could."

"Let me see that."

Yuu handed the short sword to Akame.

She examined it as best as she could and frowned.

"…Strange. As far as I can tell, this sword is completely identical to the one Tatsumi gave you. What exactly did you do?"

"I…willed something to appear and turn into that sword."

"Appear _and_ turn…Try making that something appear, but not do anything else."

Yuu held a hand out and concentrated, pulling on the same 'something' he had just now.

A black ball appeared above his palm and floated there.

"…What is this?" Yuu asked, staring at it.

"…Why are you asking me?" Akame retorted as she did the same.

She poked at it with the tip of the short sword Yuu had created, and the ball immediately dissipated.

"…I have a lot of questions, but let's put that on hold for now. We still have to find Stylish's lab." Akame said with a weary sigh, handing the short sword back to him.

Whatever had just happened probably did not do wonders for her opinion of him.

He just hoped that whatever little progress they had made in the past month had not been completely undone.

The two of them continued to search the tunnels, scouring every corner, nook and cranny.

But, they couldn't find a trace of a lab anywhere.

No secret entrances, no trap doors, no broken vials or containment facilities.

Aside from the presence of the Danger Beasts, this was, for all intents and purposes, an ordinary mine.

"Weird, there's nothing here at all."

"There has to be. Keep looking. Those Danger Beasts didn't sprout out of thin air."

Yuu decided not to mention how they had already searched nearly the entire mine from top to bottom with no results and kept pressing forward.

Recalling the mine's layout, there should be one last branch of tunnels left to search.

They didn't have to go far, for they reached a room with a hole in the ceiling, allowing faint moonlight to stream in and just lightly brighten the place.

However, it was not the only source of illumination.

They stopped at the entrance of the room, staring down at the ground.

"…What is that?"

"I…have no idea."

Engraved in the ground was a small, glowing circular symbol, consisting of a large circle with a Yin-Yang symbol in the middle, and four identical sequences, two long rectangles separated by a row of two smaller rectangles, equally spaced out from each other.

They didn't get any closer to it, unsure of what it could do.

"Whatever it is, it's most likely the result of a Teigu's power."

"A Teigu and the Danger Beasts, all in the same place…definitely not a coincidence."

"I agree. Let's go back. We have a lot to discuss with the others."

Yuu got the feeling that she wasn't just talking about what they had discovered.

They retraced their steps, returning to the entrance of the mine in no time, but the moment they stepped outside, Akame froze and held an arm up to stop him from moving.

Yuu only needed a second to understand why.

Two considerably powerful presences were making their way towards them.

One was on par with Akame, and the other wasn't that far behind.

"Someone's coming. We need to hide."

The two quickly moved and climbed up the branches of one of the nearby trees, using the foliage to hide themselves and suppressing their presence.

Two figures approached from a distance, walking into the moonlight and illuminating their appearances.

One was a fairly tall young man, taller than Tatsumi but shorter than Susanoo, with black hair and dark blue eyes, dressed in a blue jacket, a red scarf, a white shirt with a blue line down the middle, grey pants and boots, carrying a black short sword with a hand guard and a chain link tassel at the hilt.

The other was a teenage girl, just shorter than Akame, with shoulder length black hair parted into what vaguely resembled a twintail hairstyle and black eyes, dressed in a black sailor uniform.

She struck him with just how much she resembled Akame.

She wore the same red belt with a red side skirt cover, the same red gauntlets, and even a katana that looked almost identical to Murasame, with the exception of a black grip instead of red.

It even gave off an ominous aura like Murasame did.

Yuu recognized them on sight.

They were two members of the Jaegers, Wave and…

"…Kurome."

He heard Akame whisper almost wistfully.

As he thought, that was Kurome, Akame's little sister.

The two of them stopped at the entrance.

Yuu cursed silently.

The carcasses of the Danger Beasts they had killed were strewn about.

Not just here, but in the tunnels too.

"Looks like someone already got here before us."

"…Wave, look. These wounds were made by a katana. And these black markings…"

"…Murasame!? Which means…your sister is…!?"

"Mmm…the bodies are cold, so it's already been a while since they died, but she might still be around here somewhere. Let's take a look inside. If she hasn't left, we'll corner her."

"…And kill her? Can you really do that to your own sister?"

"How many times do I have to say it? There's nothing I would like more than to have my sister as one of my puppets." Kurome said with a deranged grin.

Wave looked thoroughly disturbed, but followed her into the mines.

They waited for few minutes, just to be sure they were deep enough in the mines, and made their escape.

"So, that was your sister, huh?"

Akame did not reply immediately.

She just kept her eyes trained forward, a pained expression marring her face.

"…You might have already heard from one of the others, but Kurome and I were sold by our parents to the Empire when we were children."

Yuu nodded.

Tatsumi told him at one point.

"Both of you ended being raised as assassins for the Empire."

"Yes. We, along with almost 100 other children, were thrown into a forest filled with Danger Beasts to weed out the weak. Both of us survived, among the first to escape the forest, but we were drafted to different divisions. I was told that it was to ensure that we would not become dependent on each other. I was assigned to an elite squad with 6 other children, led by Murasame's previous wielder, and Kurome was thrown into the division for the dregs, those that had survived but were weaker than the 7 of us. There, she was drugged and experimented on again and again to improve her physical performance and to mold her mental state into one the Empire deemed desirable. By the time I had chosen to defect to the Revolutionary Army, Kurome's mind was already too far gone, cementing her loyalty to the Empire through fear. She refused to leave with me. By that time, I had already killed Murasame's previous wielder along with several other high ranking officers, so I was forced to escape without her."

"So, her broken mind is the reason she wants to kill you?"

"Yes. She is convinced that by killing me with Yatsufusa and turning me into one of her puppets, we can be together forever, the ultimate expression of her love for me. That is how twisted her mind has become."

"…Are you really prepared to kill her? Your own sister?" Yuu asked, echoing Wave's question to Kurome.

"…Honestly, I still hold hopes that she will manage to see sense even in her addled state and defect from the Empire. I found a hot spring in the mountains that has a powerful detoxifying property. It can probably cleanse the drugs from her system and heal her mind. But, the chances of that happening are exceedingly low. She's already been classified as one of our high priority targets by the Revolutionary Army because of how many people she has butchered. If she stays with the Empire, there will be no other choice but to kill her. In that case, I would rather take her life with my own two hands."

Akame's expression was pained, sorrowful, but her voice was filled with conviction.

Yuu could tell just how much she loved Kurome, but if it came down to it, she was prepared to kill her, even if she didn't want to.

Kurome was not the only one whose mind was broken.

Akame's was too, though perhaps not as much as her sister's.

The Empire had twisted the love between the two sisters into something so ugly.

Just as he thought, the Empire needed to fall.

* * *

Yuu stared at Tatsumi, who was sprawled out on the floor after being beaten to a pulp by Najenda for making a comment on her age.

A few days had passed since the incident at the mines.

The modified Danger Beasts had been wiped out completely through their efforts as well as that of the Jaegers, and a few pieces of information came to light.

While patrolling the mountains for the Danger Beasts, Esdeath had unexpectedly dropped in, quite literally, on Tatsumi, and not a few seconds later, another intruder appeared and used an unknown Teigu to teleport them to an uninhabited island southeast of the Empire, where they were promptly attacked by giant Danger Beasts bearing a resemblance to both the ones they had been hunting as well as Stylish's giant form.

The Teigu had created a symbol on the ground that was identical to the ones they had found in the mines, serving as the teleportation point between the two locations, reactivating after roughly a day and allowing them to return to the same mountaintop they had been on before being teleported.

That led them to draw two conclusions.

One, the Danger Beasts really were Stylish's creations.

Two, his lab was not in the mines or on the island. Rather, the person who had attacked Tatsumi and Esdeath had likely found his lab somewhere and used his Teigu to teleport the small Danger Beasts to the mines and the big ones to the island.

However, they still could not discern what their goal was. They didn't enough information for that.

They had also tested Yuu's new found ability as best as they could.

They had also discovered a few things about it.

The short sword he had created seemed to be identical to the one Tatsumi had given him at first glance, but a careful examination had revealed that while its appearance and weight distribution were identical, the inner layers of the blade was nothing more than one lump of steel rather than the carefully folded layers of strong steel around a softer core of wrought iron that Tatsumi's had.

It would not have lasted as long as Tatsumi's had, and probably would have shattered with a few strong blows.

Najenda seemed to have developed a theory and tested it by having him create a copy of Murasame, which was then used on one of the local Danger Beasts around the base.

It was as sharp as the real thing, but no black markings appeared around the wound, and the target had certainly not died within a few seconds until he had beheaded it.

That more or less confirmed Najenda's theory that while he could create seemingly perfect replicas of the real deal, he couldn't perfectly replicate parts of the structure that he was not familiar with.

He hadn't known the forging method Tatsumi had employed to make the sword, nor the one that had been used to create Murasame, much less the composition of its cursed poison, and thus, he was unable to replicate them.

Something else they had found out was the limit of what Yuu could create at a time.

Najenda had him create as large of a block of stone as he could, but no matter how many times he tried, he could not create one that weighed more than about 10 kilograms.

That little test also exposed another limitation.

If he used it too many times in a row, he would get a horrible migraine.

It was a useful and dangerous ability for certain when applied correctly, but it was not one that was without a considerable number of countermeasures.

That took a great deal of weight off of his mind, as well as that of Akame's, from what he could tell.

The past few days had been spent getting rid of a few more targets within the Empire, which proved to be an increasingly difficult task since the Danger Beasts were fully exterminated.

The Jaegers were now focusing their full attention on Night Raid, and it was now at the point where Chelsea, who could disguise her appearance to practically anything she liked, was the only one who could carry out assassinations within the capital.

And the last one she had been on had been a close call too, with Wave and Kurome showing up on the scene just seconds after she had eliminated her target.

Only her quick thinking in disguising herself as one of the target's many cats had allowed her to get away.

At this rate, it was going to be next to impossible to avoid a fight with the Jaegers.

"Alright, everyone listen up. The subject of the job this time is the religion spreading through the Empire called the Path of Peace." Najenda declared, getting everyone's attention.

"Ah, the religion that says that performing good deeds contributes to happiness and longevity, huh?" Chelsea noted.

"Indeed. It is because of that doctrine that they have become increasingly hostile towards the current regime over the ten years since their founding. In that time, they have gathered a large number of believers, and in the eastern part of the Empire, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they're the most influential party. Our intelligence says that that very religion will soon lead an armed revolt against the Empire. The Revolutionary Army will be using this to our advantage."

"W-Wait a minute! If an insurrection of that scale happens, a huge number of citizens are going to get caught up in it! Shouldn't we be stopping it!?" Tatsumi immediately protested.

He had a point.

If such an influential religion led an uprising against the Empire, the scale of the conflict would definitely kill a large number of civilians, and that wasn't even counting just how many would join in order to overthrow the regime.

But, he had a feeling that it wouldn't matter whether or not they stopped it.

Not with how the regime currently was.

"The corrupt politicians of the Empire have tormented the citizens for too long. Even if we stooped the Path of Peace's uprising, their anger would just find another outlet to explode at. The Empire has already deteriorated to the point where it's no longer possible to avoid civilian casualties no matter how we go about our revolution." Najenda said in a tired manner.

Tatsumi gritted his teeth in frustration, but acknowledged that arguing any further was pointless.

"Listen to the end first. Remember the Ban Tribe and the Hero from the North?" Lubbock asked him.

"The ones that Esdeath defeated?" Tatsumi recalled.

"Yeah. They made a number of mistakes in their attempted revolts, but I think their biggest one was thinking they could take on the Empire by themselves. Even with how many of them we've taken out so far, the Empire's military power is still massive, especially with Esdeath around. The Path of Peace's uprising would probably also be suppressed before long, with a huge amount of bloodshed to go with it."

"However, this uprising gives the Revolutionary Army the chance to finally make their move. Once the Path of Peace begins their revolt in the east, we will have our allies in the Western Tribes begin an attack from the west. With this, the Empire will have both internal and external threats to deal with. However, they have enough power to deal with both at once. That's where the Revolutionary Army's forces comes in. At the same time, they will begin an attack from the south and make their way towards the capital." Najenda explained, pointing to several points on the heavily marked map of the Empire she showed them.

"A three-pronged attack…"

"The Empire is currently underestimating the Revolutionary Army thanks to how quiet their movements have been. The bulk of their forces is located in the southern borders, so they'll start moving from there. In order to reach the Empire, they'll have to get past a number of forts. Normally, that would mean they would need time to get to the capital, giving the Empire time to prepare, but we've already arranged for several of the lords of those forts to let them pass through unimpeded. Most of them are good people who were demoted for not conforming to the Prime Minister's wishes, so convincing them was a fairly simple matter. With how the Revolutionary Army will avoid several conflicts and advance towards the capital at an alarming rate, the Empire will be caught off guard. Unfortunately, even with that, Grand General Budo and the Imperial Guard will most likely move to suppress them. However, their departure also means that the security around the palace will drop sharply."

"That will be our opportunity. We will infiltrate the palace and assassinate the Prime Minister and his allies, breaking the regime from the inside." Akame concluded, tightening her grip on Murasame.

"Well, slippery bastards like him tend to escape in the end." Lubbock jested.

"That ain't happening this time. He's the source of all of our problems. He needs to die. Painfully." Leone said with a dark grin, cracking her knuckles in anticipation.

"In return for the Western Tribes' help, we've agreed to restore their original territory."

Yuu remembered something about that.

What was now the western region of the Empire actually once belonged to the Western Tribes, but it had been forcefully taken over by the Empire at some point, which led to their decline in recent times. Recovering it was their dearest wish.

One of Mine's parents was also from the Western Tribes, so this was probably personal for her, judging by the look of melancholy on her face.

"And if the current regime crumbles and the oppression vanishes, the citizens' anger will also abate. Depending on how fast we act, it might even be possible to avoid too much bloodshed."

Tatsumi's expression brightened up a bit at that.

"However, if all of this has already been planned, why haven't we made our move yet? Is it related to this job?" Susanoo reasoned.

"Correct, as expected of my Teigu. The Path of Peace is the key to all of our plans, but it seems like there's some internal conflict going on at the moment. The current Lord of the religion is a good man who holds tremendous charisma. You could say that he's the reason why the Path of Peace is as popular as it is. However, the second-in-command of the religion, Borick, is actually one of the Prime Minister's spies. His goal is to take control of the Path of Peace and stop the uprising. He plans to assassinate the Lord, martyring him in the process, and seize the reins himself."

"In that case, couldn't we just pass information to them and have them deal with Borick themselves?"

"Unfortunately, a group within the Path of Peace is siding with Borick, and they possess considerable influence even compared to the Lord. Moreover, they have the Empire's support."

"That's the most repulsive part about the Prime Minister. He doesn't even try to suppress them from the outside. Instead, he seizes control of them from the inside and adds them to his already considerable forces." Chelsea noted, a look of disgust on her face.

"That's our job this time. We will head to the Path of Peace's headquarters in Kyoroch and eliminate Borick. We have intelligence that he laces the food of a few followers with narcotics and once they're addicted, the scumbag plays with them until they break."

Lubbock and Susanoo twitched, looking incensed, but Yuu got the feeling that they were getting worked up over the wrong part of what Najenda had just told them.

"And one last thing. It's about the Jaegers. Now that the Danger Beasts have been exterminated, they've been focusing their efforts on hunting us down. At the rate that we're going, we'll definitely be caught in the act at some point. So, I propose that we lure them outside the capital and take out as many of them as we can."

"I see. So, we're finally confronting them head on."

"Even if they weren't hunting us, we have orders from HQ to kill Kurome and Bors if possible."

One was an assassin who had slaughtered hundreds if not thousands, and the other had burned down several villages that supported the Revolutionary Army.

With all the residents, both those who were knowingly supporting the rebellion and those who were innocent, still inside.

It was only natural that both would end up being targets.

"And as long as Esdeath is leading them, the Jaegers are the Prime Minister's private elite squad. We will come into conflict with them eventually, so I would prefer we deal with them now rather than later. Tatsumi, can you fight them despite being acquainted with them?"

"…I'll do it. Even if it's against those who aren't targets, I'll use my full power to fight! I chose this path myself, and I don't have any doubts about it!"

They smiled at his conviction.

"Good! Then, let's begin planning the attack. Oh, and Yuu."

Yuu looked at Najenda when she called him.

"The Revolutionary Army sent us the Teigu I requested for you."

He straightened in attention.

He had been waiting for this for a while.

Najenda had told him before that she was going to get him a Teigu that she thought would be best suited for his fighting style, but it had not arrived until now.

With it, every member of Night Raid would have a Teigu, and he would finally be able to stand on even ground with the others.

"Just to be clear, you are aware of the prerequisites of wielding a Teigu, right?"

He nodded.

One, he had to be exceptionally strong, the cream of the crop amongst humanity to be able to wield one of the 48 powerful weapons the First Emperor had created.

That was not a problem as far as he knew.

That month of training was not for nothing.

Two, he had to be compatible with it. His first impression of it was especially important.

This, he was not quite as confident.

However, he knew that however they appeared on the surface, each and every Teigu was powerful, enough to bring an ordinary army to its knees.

"Good. Susanoo, bring it out."

The humanoid Teigu nodded and retreated into one of the back rooms.

He reemerged with an object carefully wrapped in cloth, setting it down on the table.

Yuu moved forward and unwrapped it, revealing its appearance.

It had the form of an intricate mask, with a breathing apparatus for a mouth piece and visors with crosses on them at the eyes.

His heart was beating with pure anticipation.

"Its name is Power Surging: Balzac. As for what it does…well, put it on and find out."

Yuu did as he was told and placed the mask over his face.

It tightened to fit the contours of his head perfectly and the moment it was properly set…

…He just knew that this was going to be the start of a beautiful partnership.

* * *

Yuu kept himself hidden within the terrain, suppressing his presence completely, and carefully watched the battle, waiting for his opportunity to strike.

The beginning stages of the plan had gone off without a hitch.

Purposely allowing themselves to be seen by Empire soldiers, they lured the Jaegers out of the capital with the prospect of finally catching them.

Then, they allowed themselves to be seen splitting into two groups, one led by Najenda towards the east and the other led by Akame to the south, causing the Jaegers to similarly break into two groups to hunt each of them down.

However, this was a trap they had set.

In reality, the two groups rendezvoused in the south once they were certain that no one could see them, and arranged for a group of bandits to ambush whoever went eastwards while they dealt with the group that went southwards.

With Najenda being seen heading east and Akame heading south, it was all but certain that Esdeath would be leading the eastward group while Kurome would be in the southbound group.

It was a real stroke of luck that Bors, their other target, was also in the same group.

Wave was there too, but that was expected, since he always seemed to be paired with Kurome.

Leading them to a ravine, Mine took the first shot from her sniper's perch in an attempt to take out Kurome, but somehow, she was able to detect and just barely dodge a high speed shot made from almost 5 kilometers away.

Susanoo followed up with a surprise attack, quite literally blowing Wave away with sheer physical force when the latter moved to shield Kurome.

With him gone, only the two targets remained.

Akame, Tatsumi, Leone and Najenda revealed themselves, preparing to deal with them.

Lubbock was watching the perimeter, on the lookout for Esdeath's half of the group, while Chelsea, like Yuu, was to watch for an opening on either target to strike.

That was where things began to go wrong.

Kurome was stronger than they had imagined.

They had already known that she could resurrect and manipulate a maximum of 8 dead bodies with it, but according to Akame, it was supposed to be limited to human corpses.

She proved them wrong when the first corpse she revived was that of an Ultra-Class Danger Beast, Desta Ghoul, a massive reptilian monster with immense power.

The other 7 puppets were just as dangerous in their own ways.

Natala, one of Akame's and Kurome's former comrades, having been in the same division as the latter, wielding Trisula, a spear-like Shingu, an inferior version of a Teigu that was created by one of the dynasties that came after the First Emperor, possessing the ability to extend its shaft by great lengths for surprise attacks and long range combat.

Doya, an assassin from the Northern Tribes, wielding two handguns with skill that could rival even Mine.

Wall, a famous bodyguard who used a powerful shield that could take blows from Teigu without any visible damage, and had enough agility to block most of their attacks.

Henter, a member of the Ban Tribe that had been decimated by Esdeath in the past, possessing skill with knives and could move in unexpected fashions to throw his opponents off.

Rokugou, a former General of the Empire, who was going to defect to the Revolutionary Army before Kurome killed him, possessing exceptional skill with a whip, enough to overwhelm even Leone in her transformed state.

Apeman, a Danger Beast resembling a large gorilla with enough physical strength to match Teigu users.

And finally, Kaiser Frog, a giant frog-like Danger Beast that had a powerful corrosive acid in its digestive tract.

Adding the 8 puppets to Kurome and Bols, Night Raid was suddenly the ones that had been outnumbered.

Currently, Najenda and Susanoo were dealing with the Desta Ghoul, Tatsumi was fighting both Henter and the Apeman, struggling with the former's tricky movements, Mine was having a shootout with Doya, Akame was trying to take out Bols who was being protected by Wall, and Leone was fighting Rokugou.

And Kurome idled on one of the cliffs above, watching the battles unfold while Natala protected her.

Yuu kept an eye on all of them, deciding which one he should move to aid first.

The ones he was most worried about were Tatsumi and Akame.

The former was being pressed by his two opponents, though more by Henter than the Apeman, and the latter had been unusually agitated since the fighting broke out, likely because of the thought of killing her own little sister, leaving openings that she normally wouldn't.

However, it appeared that she was slowly calming down, so he decided to prioritize helping Tatsumi first.

Henter's movements appeared completely erratic at first glance, but his center of gravity always remained in the same place.

If it didn't, there was no way he would be able to move as fast as he did.

The reason Tatsumi had yet to pick up on that was because he was aiming too much for his head and was also fighting the Apeman at the same time.

Yuu slipped Balzac on and felt a whole new world expand before him.

That was Balzac's ability.

Normally, the human mind imposed limiters on the body to refrain from exceeding a certain level and potentially damaging itself in the process, devoting quite a bit of processing power to keeping them in place.

However, Balzac had the ability to undo those limiters, allowing him to use 100% of his body's capabilities and devote the freed up processing power to combat.

Combined with his ability to mask his presence and locate his opponent's weaknesses, it made him a very effective assassin, possibly more than anyone else in Night Raid.

Making sure that Kurome had her eyes on a different battle, Yuu dashed out from his hiding place towards Henter, whose back was turned towards him, and swung his short sword, properly replicated now that he knew its exact composition and structure, at his abdomen.

The Ban Tribesman corpse was sliced in two.

The two halves fell to the ground, but rather going still, they continued to move, the top half crawling towards him and the bottom half dashing at him.

Yatsufusa's puppets were all nothing more than walking corpses.

What was already dead could not be killed, which was why attacking vitals was utterly pointless.

They would keep moving as long as Yatsufusa was activated.

However, there were still ways to stop them.

Yuu quickly severed the limbs off of both halves, causing them to fall flat.

Even if they couldn't be killed, Yatsufusa's puppetry could only move the corpses the way they did when they were alive.

By cutting off the limbs, it was possible to stop them from moving altogether.

The dismembered body parts twitched on the ground for several seconds before going completely still, Yatsufusa's control over it breaking.

That was one.

Tatsumi punched the Apeman away and made to walk up to him, presumably to thank him for his assistance, but he quickly stopped him with a gesture and placed a finger to his lips, nodding towards Kurome, who had yet to notice him.

He preferred to keep it that way.

Tatsumi got the message and dashed back towards the Apeman, intent on finishing it off, while Yuu hid himself once more.

"Good work out there."

A female voice spoke sultrily into his ear.

He barely managed to keep himself from reacting aside from a sharp intake of breath.

He turned to find Chelsea standing right behind him, grinning from ear to ear.

"What are you doing?" He whispered.

"Oh, just planning my next move. Wanna help me out?"

"What do you have in mind?"

"Well, look around. The others have the advantage, and if I'm right, sooner or later, Kurome and Bols will have to make a break for it. In that case, we'll stay a step ahead and lay a trap for one of them."

Yuu looked around.

One puppet had been dealt with, but that still left seven more, including one that Kurome had yet to call out.

That made him uneasy.

On the other hand, they seemed to have things under control.

Susanoo was keeping the Desta Ghoul in check, Tatsumi was annihilating the Apeman with Hester no longer pestering him, Mine was beginning to outgun Doya, Najenda had stepped in to deal with Rokugou herself, Leone, bereft of an arm from Kurome's surprise attack, was helping Akame with Bols and Wall, and Natala was still with Kurome atop her perch.

Just like Chelsea said, it appeared that they still had the advantage.

For now, anyway.

"You think you'll be able to predict where they'll go?"

"Maybe not so much for Kurome. She's harder to read, and her position gives her more room to escape, but Bols is stuck in the ravine with us on one side. He'll only have one way to go."

The other direction.

It was a solid plan, as far as he could tell.

He was still uneasy about leaving the rest to fight, but he had faith in their capabilities.

"Let's go."

* * *

*BOOM*

A loud explosion rocked the area, a large plume of flames and black smoke rising from the valley.

It didn't seem to be big enough to engulf the whole place, but at the very least, the ravine they had been fighting in had been destroyed.

Yuu pushed down the urge to go investigate.

He still had a job to do.

"Stay calm. As big as that explosion was, our comrades aren't so weak that something like that would be able to kill them." Chelsea reassured him.

Then she grinned.

"Well, except maybe Mine."

"…You really rag on her a lot."

"Only because she's the easiest to rile up. If she doesn't want me to tease her, she should develop thicker skin."

Well, it was true that Mine was very easy to mess with, which was probably why she was the butt of all of Chelsea's jokes.

"Look sharp. I hear footsteps." Chelsea said, with an abrupt change in expression.

Pulling out beauty products from Gaea Foundation, she disguised herself as a little girl, complete with a wound on her leg.

She sat down beneath the tree in the clearing and started crying in a very convincing manner, befitting a child of the age she was imitating.

He ascended the tree, lay face down on one of the branches, directly above Chelsea, and erased his presence.

Large footsteps became audible as the explosion began to die down.

Definitely not Kurome, which could only mean…

"Oh, how terrible!"

Bols hurried up to what he presumed was a girl who was distressed.

"Uwaaaaaaaaah! A ghost!" Chelsea screamed in a young girl's voice, looking absolutely terrified.

She was really selling the part.

"No no no! I'm not a ghost! Don't worry!" He quickly denied, trying to assuage her fear.

That was when he noticed the fake wound on her leg.

"Oh, you're hurt…"

Bols pulled out a roll of fresh bandages and started wrapping it around the wound.

Chelsea continued to act panicked, doing everything she could to subtly dissuade Bols of any notion that she was anything but a scared little girl who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"There, all done! The pain should stop soon, and you'll be all better!"

Chelsea looked between the bandage and Bols' masked face with starry-eyed wonder.

"Wow! Thanks, mister!"

"Ha ha! Don't worry about it!"

If he hadn't already known it, this little interaction was all Yuu needed to know that Bols was a genuinely nice person.

However…that did not change the fact that he had killed hundreds of innocents.

"But, mister…"

That was his cue.

Still suppressing his presence, Yuu allowed himself to slip off the tree branch, falling towards the pair.

"…the villages you burned…"

Yuu hooked his legs around the lowest tree branch, abruptly stopping his fall.

"…won't get better."

As he swung from his position parallel to the ground to an upside down vertical position behind Bols, Yuu drew his short sword and positioned it right in front of his chest.

The momentum of the swing propelled the blade right through Bols' spine, severing it instantly.

"…Eh?"

Bols let out a sound of confusion as blood gushed out of the fatal wound.

Chelsea broke her disguise, returning to her original appearance and rammed a needle into the back of Bols' neck to ensure his demise by gouging one of his vital spots.

"That girl just now was a child who lived in one of the villages you burned, suspected of aiding the Revolutionary Army. I doubt you remember, since you just indiscriminately torched everything to the ground."

The two of them removed their weapons from his body.

Bols fell forward onto the ground, blood flowing out of the two wounds and pooling beneath him.

He would be dead in mere seconds.

The two of them walked away, intending to regroup with the rest of Night Raid.

"…I…have to…return…home…! They're…waiting…for…me…!"

They paused when they heard Bols' heart wrenching cries.

He attempted to crawl away, in the direction of the capital, but he did not make it far before he finally gave out.

He was dead.

"…Honestly, this is exactly why the battles of those who work in the background are so repulsive." Chelsea lamented with a wry smile on her face.

Yuu flinched ever so minutely.

In the unexplored regions, he had only hunted Danger Beasts, and the modified ones that they had exterminated in the mines, while once human, were no longer such.

This was the first human life he had ever taken.

It was not a pleasant feeling.

In fact, it felt like something was clawing away at his heart while something else simultaneously pressed down on his shoulders, attempting to split them from his torso.

Guilt, he supposed was the emotion he was currently feeling.

But, he crushed it back down.

This was the path he had chosen himself.

And no matter how much heartache it caused him, he would see it through to the end.

"…Come on, we should go see if the others are okay."

"Hm…on second thought, how about you go? I'm going after Kurome." Chelsea said as she used Gaea Foundation once more, this time to transform into Bols' likeness.

"…Are you serious? You want to take out Kurome too? By now, she's probably already halfway to her rendezvous point with the rest of the Jaegers."

"And that's exactly why I have to go now. If I can take her out before she meets up with the others, that's one less Jaeger we have to deal with later on." She said in Bols' deep voice.

"That's a hell of a risk. Most of her puppets are probably gone, but at the very least, she will still have Natala, who can match a Teigu user by himself. If she even suspects you for a moment, you'll be torn to pieces."

"Then, I'll just have to make sure she doesn't find me out, right? Don't worry about it. No matter how strong Kurome is, she's still human in the end. If I strike her in a vital like we did with Bols, she'll go down without a fight."

Yuu didn't think it was going to be as simple as that.

If she was anything like Akame, it was going to be next to impossible to find an opening that Chelsea could take advantage of.

And even if she could…should she?

Wasn't dealing with Kurome Akame's right as her older sister?

…No, before anything else, the mission comes first.

Akame knew that very well.

She would understand.

"…Alright, just be careful."

"Heh, please. When am I ever not careful?"

And with that, Chelsea ran off through the woods.

Yuu stared in the direction she had left in for a while.

She'd be fine.

She was a seasoned assassin with countless kills under her belt, with an unparalleled understanding of both human anatomy and psychology.

If anyone could take down Kurome, it was her.

…So, why was he feeling so uneasy about all of this?

His head told her she would be fine, but his gut was screaming otherwise.

He struggled with himself, trying to decide what to do.

Should he regroup with the others or go after her?

He turned in the direction of the valley.

" _She would be fine. She would be fine."_

He kept telling himself.

He walked towards the valley, his legs fighting him all the way, as though telling him to turn back.

He pressed forward.

She would be fine.

She wasn't stupid.

She would either eliminate Kurome or bail out before she got caught, and regardless of the outcome, she would come back alive.

"… _But what if she didn't?"_

A treacherous part of his brain whispered to him.

And that was all it took for him to stop, turmoil boiling within him.

…His logic could be flawed, but…his gut had yet to lead him astray.

"…Fuck!" Yuu cursed as he turned on the spot and ran in the direction that Chelsea had.

It had been a few minutes, so who knew how far she had gone by now?

But if there was a chance, even the slightest sliver of hope, that he could catch up to her and help her, he would take it.

As he emerged from the forest, he stumbled upon Lubbock running in his direction, looking just as startled to see him.

"Oh, hey! You made it! Good job on surviving your first sortie with enemy Teigu users!" He exclaimed with a grin.

"Thanks, but there's no time for that. Did you see Chelsea?"

Lubbock's expression fell.

"Yeah…she's heading after Kurome. I told her which direction she was heading when she left my thread barrier."

"Which way? I'm going after her. I've got a bad feeling about this."

"You too, huh? I told her she was being unusually reckless…Anyway, she's heading northeast from here. If you hurry, you might be able to catch up! I'll find the others and tell them! We'll send backup your way!"

"Thanks!"

Yuu ran as fast as he could, praying that nothing had happened to Chelsea yet.

*BANG*

His heart leapt into his throat when he heard a gunshot not too far away.

He pushed himself harder than ever, using every bit of unrestrained physical strength that Balzac granted him.

He finally came across a field of white flowers.

Chelsea was dashing towards him from the other side, blood gushing from the stumps that were once 4 of the 5 fingers on her left hand.

Natala landed right in front of her, swinging Trisula to cut her down.

"Like hell I'll let you…!"

Yuu's ability activated, allowing him to the best path to take to deal with Natala, who had yet to notice him.

He lashed out with his short sword as he crossed the distance between them, cutting through Natala's left arm, which held Trisula in its grip, at the shoulder.

The limb, still holding on tight to the Shingu, fell to the ground with a loud clatter.

But not before Natala had managed to cut off Chelsea's right arm at the elbow.

Yuu felt something stir within him.

Like a slumbering beast had been forcefully awakened, letting out a furious bellow and filling his entire being with rage and hatred, directed completely at the puppet that had dared to touch his comrade.

But just as soon as it had boiled up, he suppressed it.

Mindless anger would do him no good.

Calmly and collectedly, Yuu lashed out again and again as Natala turned to face him.

Soon, the puppet was in pieces on the ground, each part twitching until Yatsufusa finally recognized that they were no longer usable and relinquished its control over them.

A sound of rapidly approaching footsteps registered in his heightened hearing and he turned to see Doya running towards Chelsea, her handguns pointed at her in a firing stance.

Yuu moved between them as she fired.

To an ordinary person, there was no way to possibly even see them, much less avoid them at close range.

But he wasn't exactly most people.

In addition to being a powerful human who could wield a Teigu, said Teigu heightened his senses to their absolute limit, allowing him to perceive the paths the bullets took in the air, and his ability to see that best way to deal with his human opponent, giving him the most effective strategy to deal with the projectiles.

He flipped his short sword in the air in front of his eyes, the blade deflecting the first bullet and sending it right into the path of the second, knocking both way off course and away from him and Chelsea.

Doya fired again, and like before he deflected them.

He took a step towards her.

Shots fired.

Shots deflected.

Another step forward.

Shots fired.

Shots deflected.

This process repeated again and again until he reached Doya and severed her hands at the wrist, causing her weapons to fall to the ground.

The puppet was not deterred and lashed out with a kick instead.

Yuu caught it in his free hand and cut her foot off.

Losing her balance, Doya fell to the ground, where he proceeded to systematically dismantle her.

And like Natala, her twitching body parts eventually fell still.

He kept his guard up, preparing for whatever other puppets might still be heading their way, or worse, Kurome herself.

"Don't…worry. Those two were…the only ones."

Yuu rushed back to Chelsea.

She had fallen to the ground, her breathing labored, blood gushing from the stumps that were once her right forearm and her left fingers.

He couldn't be gladder that he came prepared.

He fished a roll of bandages, coated in disinfectant, and quickly wrapped up her stumps tightly, stemming the blood loss.

He did the same with her dismembered arm.

If they acted quickly enough, they might still be able to reattach it with Lubbock's threads, though it probably would not function as well as it did before.

He didn't see her lost fingers, so they were probably somewhere else.

"Ah, geez. I really…messed up." She commented in a self-deprecating manner.

"What happened? Did Kurome figure you out?"

"Not…exactly. I was able to hit her in what I know was a vital spot, but…she didn't die. She was definitely injured, but she got back up nonetheless. According to her, the Empire developed and gave her a new doping drug that enhances her physical capabilities to the point where the only way to kill her is by gouging her heart out or destroying her brain."

"Is such a thing…even possible?"

"I don't know, but there's definitely something wrong with her. But…I was able to injure her badly enough that she can't move from her spot. If you go now, you might be able to kill her."

"But…I can't just leave you here."

"I'll be fine…! With this first aid, I can survive until the others get here. Hurry, before the Jaegers find her!" She urged him.

"…Alright. You better not die."

Both of them got up and started moving, Yuu following the path that he had seen Doya take and Chelsea going the way he had come.

A sudden wetness in his hair caused him to look up.

At some point, rain clouds had gathered overhead, and it was beginning to really pour.

Visibility began to drop greatly, though this might end up working in his favor instead, considering his sharpened senses.

He hoped Chelsea managed to find cover, or her wounds were going to get very badly infected.

Eventually, down the path in front of him, he spotted a figure on the ground, barely able to keep herself from collapsing completely.

Akame's little sister made for a sad sight, looking completely waterlogged with blood flowing out from around the needle that Chelsea had stuck into the back of her neck, mixing with the rain water pooling beneath.

She looked like she could keel over at any moment, but Yuu was careful nonetheless.

A great deal of energy was needed to control even just one corpse with Yatsufusa, and if Natala and Doya were the last ones, it meant she now had access to her full power.

He had no idea how much of it she could use in her current condition, but it was better to be unnecessarily cautious than to end up with his head separated from his neck.

As he approached the fallen assassin, she looked up at him, her breathing erratic.

"Who…are you?"

"Your executioner."

"…! I see…you're part of Night Raid…! Which means, the one who defeated Natala and Doya was…!"

"That would be me. Bols has already been dealt with. The only remaining target is you. Prepare yourself, Kurome."

"If you think I'll go down without a fight…you've got another thing coming…!"

Kurome shakily rose to her feet, brandishing Yatsufusa as she did.

She swung the corpse puppeteering sword at him.

However, the attack was sloppy, slow, filled with openings.

Yuu easily evaded it, and the next, and the third.

As far as he could tell, she wasn't faking it.

Chelsea's assassination attempt had failed to kill her, but it had obviously done a ton of damage to her.

Yuu caught her arm in the middle of the 4th swing, and forced Yatsufusa from her grip.

He kicked the March of the Dead aside, the sword clattering loudly as it bounced off the ground and landed a distance away.

Even bereft of her weapon, Kurome attempted to fight back, throwing a punch as hard as she could, which in her current condition, was very weak.

He easily caught it, and just like how Susanoo had done with him during their training, he twisted her arm behind her back and restrained her.

Kurome winced, which was probably the only reaction she had the energy to show.

He placed the tip of his short sword to her throat.

He didn't care what kind of enhancements she had, there was no way a living person could survive a decapitation.

She was weakened to the point where she could only feebly struggle in his one-handed grip.

Killing her would only be all too easy.

But, he found himself unable to push the blade any deeper.

There was no way he was getting cold feet now.

He had already killed Bols.

One more shouldn't have been a problem for him.

But, when he looked at her agonized face, looking far too similar to Akame, he hesitated.

And that moment of hesitation was going to cost him.

"Kurome!"

Yuu tightened his grip on his short sword, keeping the blade tightly pressed against Kurome's neck, just as Wave arrived on the scene.

As he got close, Yuu called out.

"I would prefer it if you didn't get any closer. Otherwise, I might be suddenly motivated to behead your friend here. The same goes for your Teigu. Activate it, and her head rolls."

Wave immediately put both hands up in a gesture of surrender.

"Okay, let's just calm down here."

"I'm perfectly calm. If anyone needs to calm down, I think it would be you. You're looking a little shaky there."

Wave immediately stiffened his leg, which had been indeed been shaking.

"Look, just let her go. No one else has to die here."

"No can do. She's one of our priority targets."

"Why!? Why is Kurome wanted by you people!?"

"Good question. Why don't you ask her yourself? Ask her how many people she butchered?"

"They were killed because they tried to disrupt the Empire's peace!"

"Really? And how, pray tell, do mere children threaten the regime of a thousand year old Empire? The disabled? The elderly? Your so-called peace is nothing more than meaningless propaganda."

"Ngh…And what about the Revolutionary Army!? Going as far as to recruit children like you to fight their battles, can you say that they're any better!?"

"Compared to a regime that oppresses its own people? Orders the murder of innocents without reason? I acknowledge that we of the Revolutionary Army are hardly angels, but from where I stand, we're the lesser of two evils. And for that reason…"

Yuu pressed his blade hard enough into Kurome's neck to draw blood.

As life fluid trickled from the small wound, Wave panicked.

"S-Stop right there! General Esdeath and the other Jaegers will be here soon! Do you really think they'll let you get away with this!?"

"Hm…I hold no illusions that I would survive if I had to fight that monster in human flesh…"

"See!? So, let Kurome go, and you can just leave before she gets here…"

"But, what of it? Even if I die here, the death of another Jaeger will only raise the moral of the Revolutionary Army, more so if it's Kurome, who's been a thorn in their side for a long time. I'm more than willing to die for our cause."

"A-Are you fucking serious!? You're a damn kid! You had your life ahead of you! And you're willing to sacrifice it all for your 'cause'!? What the hell is wrong with you!?"

"I could ask the same thing of you."

And now, to put an end to this.

Yuu looked down at Kurome, trapped in his grip.

It would only be too easy to press the blade all the way through her neck.

But, the hesitation from before had not dissipated.

If anything, it had just grown stronger.

Every moment he looked at her, he just kept getting reminded of Akame.

" _If she stays with the Empire, there will be no other choice but to kill her. In that case, I would rather take her life with my own two hands."_

Akame's words from that night kept echoing in his head, along with that expression of sad resolve, and with each repetition, Yuu felt his own resolve to kill Kurome fade away.

"… _Alright, Akame, but you better finish the job."_

Yuu relented, and instead of beheading her, he stabbed her in the abdomen, swiftly withdrawing the blade and letting her slump to the ground.

"Kurome!" Wave cried out in horror.

"Relax. I made sure to avoid her vitals. The right to kill her belongs to her sister. She'll survive if you get her medical attention soon. Now, if you don't mind, I'll be taking my leave."

Yuu turned around and began to walk away.

He didn't have to look to know that Wave was preparing to attack.

"You should quit while you're ahead. I said she would survive if she gets medical attention, but if you waste time trying to take me in, I can't make that guarantee. And I think we both know which you treasure more between your comrade's life and your enemy's."

He could practically hear Wave's teeth grinding as he weighed his options for a moment before scooping Kurome off the ground, preparing to get her to safety.

"Oh, and one more thing. Just some food for thought."

Yuu looked back and made eye contact with him.

"I walk this path because I wholeheartedly believe that this is what is best for the people. You only side with the Empire because of your obligation to your savior. I can say with absolute confidence that I stand on the right side. Can you do the same?"

Yuu did not wait for Wave's reply before he dashed away in a random direction.

It was only when he was sure that he wasn't being followed that he changed course and headed for the rendezvous point.

Wave would not let him off lightly for what he did to Kurome, even if he did spare her in the end.

And he had no intention of pulling any punches with anyone who sided with the corrupt regime.

The next time they met, they would surely be enemies.

But that was a bridge to be crossed when he came to it.

There was a more pressing matter to attend to.

Namely Chelsea.

Hopefully, the others had already found her, and she hadn't bled out.

Oh, and he also had to figure out how he was going to spin this to the others.

However, unbeknownst to him, the beast within him that had been awakened continued to strain against the 'chains' he had bound it with.

Eventually, it relented, recognizing that its current strength was not enough to break free, and settled for biding its time.

Now that it had been awakened, it was all but impossible for it to return to its previous dormant state.

It simply needed to wait for another opportunity to present itself, for the bindings to falter, allowing it to lash out with impunity.

It had plenty of time, and this world presented many, many chances.

* * *

Yuu languished in his room, reading up on the history and geography of Kyoroch, where they would be heading soon.

A week had passed since the battle at the valley.

No one had died, not even from the Rubicante's self-destruct, miraculously.

It had been a pretty close call with Leone and Chelsea for a moment, but the regeneration granted by Lionelle saved the former, while Lubbock managed to close the latter's wounds before she lost too much blood.

But while Chelsea had survived, not only could her left fingers and right arm not be saved, Gaea Foundation was destroyed.

They couldn't do anything about the latter.

No one alive could, for any knowledge of the creation of Teigu was lost with the Empire's first generation.

Yuu had not been able to find the fingers while retreating to the rendezvous point, and even though he had acted as quickly as he could to keep the right arm intact, by the time Lubbock could safely try to attach it back on, the stump on the severed limp had already started to decay, probably from whatever had gotten onto it from the short time it had spent on the ground.

Once the debrief was over, Najenda, accompanied by Susanoo, had taken Chelsea to the Revolutionary Army's headquarters to get prosthetics much like her own as replacements.

However, while she would get new limbs, it also meant that she wouldn't be able to function at her normal capacity.

Yuu had heard that Najenda had to get her prosthetic because of the wounds Esdeath had inflicted on her when she defected to the Revolutionary Army.

It had been incredibly touch and go, and while Najenda survived, the loss of her right arm, right eye and the severity of her wounds resulted in her only being able to function at 40% of her previous capacity, even to present day.

Comparatively, Chelsea's wounds weren't quite as bad, but they were grave enough that it was unlikely she would be able to function the same way she did before, even with prosthetics.

Yuu just hoped that she wouldn't take it too hard.

Despite the detour, their schedule had not changed.

If they waited any longer to go to Kyoroch, the higher the risk that the Lord would be assassinated before they could deal with Borick.

The plan was for the rest of them, led by Akame, to head for Kyoroch, set up base camp on the outskirts and do reconnaissance first, and when Najenda, Susanoo and Chelsea arrived, they would start planning their next move.

They would head out tomorrow morning, so Yuu was reading up while he could before he went to bed.

*KNOCK* *KNOCK*

He looked up when he heard knocking on his door.

Who could it be at this time of night?

Yuu got up and opened the door a crack to see who was outside.

He blinked.

"Akame?"

The last person he expected out of those still in the base was standing outside his door.

"Can I come in?"

"Uh…sure."

He pushed the door open all the way and allowed Akame into the room.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, I just wished to thank you."

"Thank me? For what?"

"For sparing Kurome."

Yuu's expression stiffened.

He had told the others that Wave had showed up before he could finish Kurome off, so he had to bail without finishing the job.

He hadn't said anything about purposely letting her go.

"I'm…not quite sure what you mean."

"You're a good liar, I'll admit. I'm fairly certain almost everyone else bought your story. But you're not that good. At the very least, Boss and I both noticed."

"Urk! Boss knows…?" Yuu flinched.

Najenda was literally the one person he had hoped would not see through his deception.

He had half expected her to interrupt his recount of the events and kick his ass as punishment.

There were no words to describe his relief when she did nothing of the sort, and seemed to accept his story.

But, she actually knew?

Then, why didn't she say anything?

"She does, but she didn't say anything…probably out of consideration for me."

"For you?"

"Yes. When Najenda scouted me, I had a condition if I was to join Night Raid. Namely, that I would be allowed to deal with Kurome in any way I saw fit if the situation arose."

"Deal with her…you mean, kill her?"

"No. 'Any way' literally means any way. Whether I chose to kill her, save her, or anything else, she would allow it."

"Then…you really do want to save her, don't you?"

"Of course. No matter what she's done, Kurome is still my little sister, and the only kin I have left. I…thought that I would be able to cut her down when it came down to it, but that battle proved me wrong. Even though I knew that I would be killed if I didn't fight seriously, I couldn't stay calm and fight like I normally do. In the end, I had to be saved by Tatsumi. That was when I realized…I do want to save her after all. That's why I want to thank you. You could have killed Kurome. It might even have been better for the revolution if you did. But, you didn't, because you remembered what I told you that night, didn't you? So, thank you."

"…Don't mention it. Just, when the time comes, make sure you finish the job, whether you choose to save her or kill her."

"…Of course. That was my intention to begin with. Anyway, that's all I wanted to say. Oh, and one more thing."

"Hm?"

"It might be a bit late, but better late than never. I think we got off on the wrong foot before, so let's start over. My name is Akame. Pleased to meet you. I look forward to working with you." She said with a smile, extending her hand towards him.

Yuu stared at her in surprise for a moment before a smile spread across his face too.

"My name is Yuu. Pleased to meet you too. I'm still inexperienced, so I might fall behind at times, but please be patient with me. I'll catch up in no time."

Yuu shook her hand firmly.

That was the proper beginning of their story together.

* * *

Present

"…A different world?"

"I-I know it sounds absurd, but that's the only explanation I can think of as to why there are so many discrepancies between the world we know and this one."

Mitsuki stuck her hand into her pocket and took out her portable terminal.

"Here, like this."

Najenda stared at it, obviously having no idea what it was.

"…And this is…?"

"It's…a little hard to explain to someone who doesn't have any prior knowledge, but…well, just look."

She pressed down on the power button.

The screen lit up, revealing the picture of her and Yuu in their childhood that she had set as her wallpaper.

Najenda started at the sight, but Mitsuki wasn't done just yet.

She activated the navigation app, making a show of flicking between pages on the terminal's interface.

This being a different world, she didn't have a signal, but she had saved an offline copy of Earth's map.

She zoomed it out to display the full image and let Najenda take it in.

"This is a map of our world. It's backed by centuries worth of data, so there's no way it could be wrong, and it's the one that most of our world uses. If your map is also accurate, then this can't be our world."

Najenda's look of shock turned into one of careful consideration.

"…Doctor?" She called out into the depths of the archives.

The doctor returned immediately, his eyes zeroing in on the device in Mitsuki's hands.

"You heard everything, right? What do you make of this?"

"May I?" The doctor asked, gesturing to the terminal.

"Of course, just…please don't break it."

Mitsuki held it out for him to take.

The doctor reached into his coat pockets and took out a pair of thick and odd-looking gloves, fitting them onto his hands before taking the terminal.

He placed all five fingers of his left hand on the screen, and for a moment, Mitsuki could have sworn that she saw the gloves glow like something out of a sci-fi movie.

"Hm…it's definitely far more advanced than anything the Empire has, even that damn oversized killing machine the old regime threw at us in the war. Even though it's only this size, its internal mechanisms are incredibly complex. It certainly lends credence to their claim."

"I see…alright then, say we believe you. Any idea how all of you, or Yuu for that matter, ended up here?"

"Well…we were investigating the last place where Yuu was seen before he had gone missing, and the ground beneath us suddenly lighted up. The next thing we knew, we were in that clearing where you found us."

"Wait…the ground beneath you was glowing?"

"Yes. It was very surprising for us, especially in the middle of the night."

"…Did any of you get a good look at the ground before you found yourselves here?"

Mitsuki looked at her classmates and teacher.

The light had been pretty bright, and with them being in near pitch black darkness before, it had blinded her, and it wasn't until they were already in the clearing that she dared to open her eyes.

Most of them shook their heads, probably for the same reason as her, but Ariella raised her hand.

"I did. A weird looking symbol appeared on the ground right before we got sent here."

"Really, Ariella-san?"

"Yeah, I still remember what it looks like."

"A…symbol…" Najenda said with no small amounts of trepidation as she and the doctor glanced at each other with knowing looks.

"By any chance…did it look like this?"

Najenda pulled a feather pen out of her pocket, and after dipping it into a nearby inkwell, started drawing on a blank piece of paper.

Once she was done, she showed it to them.

It was a very strange looking symbol indeed.

A Yin-Yang symbol in the middle, and four identical sequences, two long rectangles separated by a row of two smaller rectangles, equally spaced out from each other, all contained in a circle.

"Yeah, that's it exactly!"

Najenda and the doctor groaned at the same time.

"Of course. Shambhala. We should have known."

"Even after being destroyed, that damn thing's still causing us problems…"

"Um…so you know what caused us to be sent to this world?"

"We have a fairly good guess. Doctor, if I remember, all of the unused and damaged Teigu should be in your laboratory."

"They are, but…are you sure about showing them?"

"If that damn thing is involved, I don't see why not. If it's somehow still active even after being destroyed, they might be able to help us figure out why."

"…Very well then. Follow me."

The doctor led them out of the archives, through several hallways and down a few flights of stairs before they arrived at a heavily guarded door.

The guards wordlessly saluted Najenda and the doctor.

"At ease."

They did so and opened the doors, holding it for them to pass through.

The doctor led them into what Mitsuki saw as a stereotypical scientific laboratory, though obviously not as advanced as the ones on Earth, the technology maybe a century outdated compared to theirs.

Apparatus and pieces of paper were strewn about the place in a mess, yet the scientists seemed to functioning just fine in the chaos.

Some absentmindedly greeted Najenda and the doctor as they walked by, but didn't wait around for a reply before continuing whatever it was they were working on.

They were lead to an isolated, heavily guarded vault in the middle of a room at the end of the lab, with extra emphasis on the 'heavily guarded'.

The lab had two guards stationed outside the door, but the vault had a full team, with another patrolling around it.

"Open the vault. If we're inside any longer than 15 minutes, initiate full lockdown protocol."

Mitsuki got the feeling that that was just as much as a warning to them to not try anything as it was an order to the guards.

The guards wordlessly saluted her and opened up the vault door.

Najenda ushered them inside.

For such a large vault, the contents were surprisingly sparse.

Instead of mountains of bullions, jewels and treasures like one would expect, there were only a few, seemingly random items, all locked in transparent cases.

A glove with wire attached to the claw-like fingertips, six marbles made of stained glass with symbols inside them, a mask, a folded scythe, what appeared to be fragments of human teeth, a battleaxe, a crown, a bow with an empty quiver, a broken katana, and finally, a damaged palm-sized amulet with a Taoist-looking symbol engraved on it, split almost perfectly in half.

But despite the seemingly mundane contents, the atmosphere in the vault was incredibly heavy and solemn, as though they were in the presence of a monarch.

Or several.

"…Um, did you take us to the palace's trash heap by mistake?" Miyako joked halfheartedly,

Her laughs died before they could come out when Najenda and the doctor glared at her fiercely.

"I would appreciate it if you kept those jokes of yours to yourself. They may not look it, but what you see here are the Empire's greatest weapons."

Mitsuki turned to look back at the items.

The scythe, the axe, the bow and the katana she could understand, but the rest were supposed to be weapons too?

"1000 years ago, shortly after the Empire was founded, the First Emperor reached a conundrum. How could he ensure that the Empire he and his compatriots built on a foundation of their blood, sweat and tears would endure through the ages? He hit upon a possible solution. He would create the strongest weapons, unlike anything the world had ever seen, and the Empire would use them to ensure their dominance. Thus, he gathered his army, as well as the greatest minds in the world, and scoured the world, searching every crook and cranny and slaying every Danger Beast they could find in order to acquire the best possible materials. And they did. Using those materials, the greatest minds in the world created 48 unique and incredibly powerful weapons. Those are our Empire's trump cards, the Teigu."

"…48? Sorry, but I only count 10 here."

"Hm. During a civil war 2 centuries ago, several Teigu were lost. Since then, some have been recovered, some have been lost and some have been damaged or destroyed in battle against other Teigu. Currently, 11 have been destroyed beyond any hope of repair, 2 are badly damaged and 17 still missing. Out of the remaining 18 Teigu that are still active, 7 of them are right here, 6 are currently being used, 2 are up in the mountains and 3 are out of the continent."

By out of the continent…did she mean they were with Yuu?

"Of course, I don't expect you to take my word for it. Here, why don't you try it for yourself?"

Najenda walked up one of the cases and retrieved the mask, tossing it to Ariella, who caught it in one hand.

"Me?"

"Teigu can only be wielded by exceptionally strong humans, and from what I've seen, you're the only one who even comes close to fitting the bill. No offense intended to the rest of you."

" _Some taken…"_ Mitsuki privately thought, and judging by the look on some of the other girls' faces, especially Miyako and Lisa, they were thinking along the same lines.

Ariella looked down at the mask in her hands with slightly skepticism and trepidation before she slipped it on.

And then, she froze.

"…Ariella-san?" Mitsuki called out to her in concern.

The Middle-Eastern girl jolted out of her daze.

"Ah, sorry, I was just caught off guard by this thing…" She said, her voice still coming out clearly, as though she wasn't wearing something over her face.

"So, how is it?"

"…Incredible. Sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, all of my five senses are much sharper than before. Not just that, but my head feels so clear."

"Of course. Power Surging: Balzac is a Teigu that removes the limits that your mind sets on your body. With it on, you have access to what is essentially 100% of both your physical and mental capacities." Najenda explained.

Ariella moved, and sped past them almost instantly.

"Fast…!"

Ariella was the most athletic among Brynhildr Class's members, and could normally ran circles around the rest of them in Phys Ed, but that just now was easily twice of her usual top speed.

And she didn't look like she was exerting her full power just yet.

Not that she would get a chance to, because Najenda offhandedly caught her and snatched the mask off.

"Alright, that's enough of that."

"H-Hey!"

Ariella supposedly had access to her body's and mind's full power, yet Najenda had stopped her so easily.

She was crippled, but it felt like she was the strongest person in the vault by a huge margin.

"It'd be dangerous to keep this thing on any longer." Najenda said, gesturing to her head.

Ariella blinked before she placed a hand to the same spot.

When it came back down, it was covered in blood.

Why was she bleeding!?

"Onee-chan!" Ren called out in an uncharacteristically loud manner.

The rest of Brynhildr Class similarly expressed panicked concern.

"I-I'm fine, I think. It's only a minor wound. But when…?"

"It's a rejection from Balzac because of bad compatibility. When you saw it, you probably thought something along the lines of 'this mask looks creepy', am I right?"

"Yeah, I did, but…"

Mitsuki had thought so too.

In fact, the entire class probably had as well.

"All Teigu possess level of sentience, and they can only be wielded by a user who has strong compatibility with them. The first impression that a potential wielder has of the Teigu in particular is especially important. If you don't have a favorable first impression of it, your compatibility is almost certain to be poor. A Teigu will fiercely reject a user who is incompatible. By the usual standards, that little scratch on your head is very mild. The worst rejections I have ever seen ended with the gruesome deaths of the potential users."

"Dea-?! If it was that dangerous, why would you let her try in the first place!?"

"Don't worry. Those cases only occurred when said potential users were too stubborn and continued to try and use the Teigu even after the initial rejection, and ended provoking an even stronger response. And the good doctor here can fix any wound short of death itself."

"Oi." The doctor called out in irritation.

"Incidentally, Yuu used to wield Balzac as well."

"My brother?"

"Yeah, he used it with terrifying effectiveness. Even though he was the youngest member of Night Raid, his talent in assassination was the real deal. And armed with Balzac, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that when it came to traditional, in the shadows assassinations, Yuu was second to none."

"Well, he stopped using it halfway through his tenure in Night Raid though." The doctor added.

"Why? It seems like such a powerful weapon…" Ariella muttered.

"Balzac is a Teigu that brings out 100% of its user's power. But, that's all it does. In other words, if the opponent is stronger than the user's 100%, Balzac becomes ineffective. And that was the exact situation that Yuu…no, that Night Raid found itself in. That woman…she was just too overwhelming. It was a level that even 'superhuman' wouldn't be anywhere near enough to describe."

"Hmph. Esdeath's power was about the only good quality she had. Everything else about her was rotten to the core." The doctor said with a scowl.

Esdeath…Mitsuki had obviously never met her, only heard about her from Najenda, but just the mention of the name sent a chill down her spine.

A General of the previous regime that singlehandedly stood as the Revolutionary Army's greatest obstacle.

A sadist who warred and killed for sport rather than out of necessity.

Even at the very end, when the previous regime had all but fallen and she was the last one from her side still standing, she took on the Revolutionary Army's entire main force and utterly decimated them without getting a single scratch on her person.

It took Yuu and one of his comrades from Night Raid, Akame together with all of their might to finally take her down after a long, grueling battle.

"Well, anyway, let's leave this aside. The Teigu I wanted to show you is this one."

Mitsuki took a look at the case Najenda was gesturing towards.

It was the one holding the broken amulet.

Compared to the other Teigu in the vault, it lacked a certain…presence.

"Its name is Dimensional Formation: Shambhala, and as you can see, it's broken. As such, it can't be used anymore. However, when it was still intact, it had the power to teleport over great distances by placing markers at both the point of departure and the destination. The symbol that appeared on the ground that you mentioned happens to be identical to the markers that Shambhala makes."

"Then, this thing is the reason we're here? But, I thought it couldn't be used anymore."

"Because it's now broken, it cannot create new markers. However, the ones that were created before are still around, though inactive. And we confirmed it was possibly to temporarily reactivate them with a considerable amount of energy. Two years ago, during our final assault on the capital, the Empire employed a gravitational bomb against us. Yuu attempted to block it, and the clash released an immense amount of energy that caused an inactive marker that had been placed on the palace grounds to reactivate and send both Yuu and the bomb to another location. It was incredibly lucky that Yuu managed to return before the marker deactivated again."

"Nii-san and a bomb…two years ago…"

"Mitsuki, wasn't that…?"

She nodded.

There could be no mistake.

That must have been when Yuu had appeared from a rift in the sky in the midst of Midgard's operation against the Purple Kraken.

She recalled the massive black orb that had fallen out of the rift with him, the one that had exploded with so much force that it had all but killed the Kraken.

Even if the Dragon Subjugation Squad hadn't attacked it, it probably would have died shortly after from the grievous wounds it had received.

"Najenda-san, actually…"

Mitsuki informed Najenda of the events from their side two years ago.

"Yuu was sent back to your world? Strange, that shouldn't have happened. When we tested the markers by supplying them with energy, they just functioned like they originally did and sent us to the marker they were connected to. They shouldn't have connected to another world."

"Was there something different about the time Yuu accidently activated the marker and our own subsequent tests…? Sorry, but could you explain in detail what exactly you were all doing up to the point you were transported here?"

"Um…we were investigating the region where my brother was reportedly last seen. Night began to fall, so we decided to search one last area before we stopped for the day, but it was getting hard to see anything, so we tried to use Dark Matter transmutation to create light sources…"

"Dark Matter? Is that what you call that ability that you all and Yuu have?"

"Well, to be specific, Dark Matter is the substance. Dark Matter Generation is the official name of the ability." She explained as she generated a ball of Dark Matter over her palm as a demonstration.

"I see…in that case, the reason might be…"

"Figured something out, doctor?"

"Possibly. I've done some tests with Yuu regarding this 'Dark Matter Generation', and two observations were that whenever it was used, a substantial amount of energy appears along with the Dark Matter and at the same time, a distortion in the local spacetime is created."

"That makes sense. The working theory in our world is that Dark Matter originates from a higher dimension than the ones that we humans physically reside in, and that Dark Matter Generation is really just summoning Dark Matter from that dimension to ours."

"Hm, that theory might hold more water than you think. Say that our two worlds exist in parallel in each other. The location where you were all transported might correspond to the clearing where you found yourselves in this world. Thanks to the liberal use of Shambhala, the spacetime here was already highly distorted. If you were to create a spatial distortion on your end as well as supply enough energy, it might be possible for one of Shambhala's inactive markers to activate here and reach out through the distortion into your world. Similarly, the sheer gravity of the bomb must have produced a similar distortion, which was likely what caused him to be temporarily sent back to your world." The doctor theorized.

"That might explain how Yuu ended up here two years ago too. But, I don't recall ever seeing one of Shambhala's markers near the base…"

"Shambhala, just like every other Teigu, is 1000 years old. It's possible that one of its past users created a marker there some time ago, and the environment just grew and covered it up."

"Alright then, I'll send a team out to investigate the area. If there is one, they'll find it."

"Then, does that mean if we used Dark Matter Generation in the same spot as before, we would be able to return to our world?"

"Theoretically, yes. Distortions of this level tend to fix themselves very slowly. But, if my theory is correct, there could be countless spots all over your world that correspond to Shambhala's inactive markers here. If Dark Matter Generation were used in one of those locations, incidents like this might occur again."

"If Shambhala weren't broken, we could just use it to remove all of the inactive markers. That would solve our problems fairly quickly…"

"…Well, that might not be impossible. Compared to the other broken Teigu, Shambhala is still fairly intact. If I can replace or at least substitute the damaged and lost parts, I might be able to get it working again. Once I'm done, we should be able to remove the markers."

"Um, that's fine and all for you guys, but could you do that _after_ we leave? We'd rather not get stuck in this world." Miyako said drily.

Najenda and the doctor chuckled.

"Of course, of course. I think we're done here. If we stay any longer, the guards will really start initiating the lockdown protocol."

Najenda knocked on the vault door and the guards on the other side quickly opened it back up, allowing them to leave.

"It's getting awfully late. I'll prepare some guest rooms for you all, so why don't you get some sleep?"

"That's fine with us, but when can we leave for the Eastern Territories?" Mitsuki asked.

She had not forgotten the whole point of them being here.

"Unfortunately, you will have to wait for a while. Chartering a ship to the Eastern Territories won't be easy. The weather in the region is extremely treacherous, so air transport is out of the question, and the waters are even more so. None but the most experienced of seamen would even dare to make an attempt, and the ones I know who have successfully made the trip are currently unavailable."

"How long do we have to wait?"

"Hm…to gather a proper crew, get a proper vessel and gather the supplies necessary for the trip…About two weeks, give or take."

"Two weeks!?"

"And the trip itself will take about a month."

Mitsuki almost passed out right there and then.

Right, this world was nowhere near as technologically advanced as theirs.

They still rode horses and used carriages.

Which meant that their ships were likely still made of wood and the modes of air transport that they were familiar with on Earth were probably still in the conceptual stages here, or not even conceived at all.

But, a minimum of six weeks!?

And that was only for a one way trip!

Assuming that the return trip took the same amount of time, that was 2 and a half months!

"A-Are there no alternatives?"

"Sorry, but no. Along with everything else, we've been looking into improving our transport, but everything is on the back burners since the Empire's reorganization is our main priority."

"Ten weeks at the minimum…how are we going to explain this to the principal?" Haruka, Charlotte B. Lord's direct subordinate and the one in charge of this whole op moaned.

"Hm…well, since I'm already going through the trouble of putting Shambhala back together, I guess I can try to adjust the time that you'll be sent back to."

"I-Is that even possible?"

"Under normal circumstances, no. Shambhala is a Teigu that possess power over space, not time. However, since the 'path' between our two worlds literally goes through spacetime itself, it might be possible to alter the 'path' a little to send you back further in time. But, I can't guarantee it'll work, and even if it does, the adjustments will have to be done very finely, or you might end up thousands of years back in your world's past."

Mitsuki was not the only one who paled at the thought of ending up in the past.

"Um…alright then, take as much time as you need to get it right…"

"Heh…don't worry. I have morals and ethics. I won't use something experimental on you until it's perfected. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to prepare for tomorrow."

"Hm? Do you have something planned for tomorrow, doctor?" Najenda asked.

"Did you forget, General? It's about time for Wave's and Kurome's annual checkup treatment."

"…Ah, is it that time of the year already?" Najenda said with a half-pained, half-nostalgic expression.

Then, another expression took over, one of consideration.

"Hm…actually, I think we'll join you tomorrow."

" _We_?"

"Yes. In the end, what I told you of the events of two years ago is just one admittedly biased account. If you want the full picture of what Yuu and the rest of us have been through, you should hear it from different perspectives."

Mitsuki looked around at the rest of Brynhildr Class.

With a minimum of two weeks before they could leave for the Eastern Territories, none of them looked like they were particularly opposed to the idea.

It certainly beat the idea of doing absolutely nothing.

"Okay. What kind of person are they?"

"I'd rather not say. You should go in with no preconceptions whatsoever. But, they aren't a danger to you, if that's what you mean. Not unless you act against them first."

"I-I see."

Najenda's avoiding of the subject was a little suspicious, but there didn't appear to be a reason for them to fear a trap.

"Get some sleep. We'll leave first thing tomorrow morning."

* * *

"I-Is it much further?"

"Almost there. Don't quit on me now. At least we didn't _walk_ all the way here. Night Raid did that once over a similar distance, you know, in weather that was less than pleasant than what we've been having the past few days."

Mitsuki shuddered at the thought.

Suddenly, her aching hindquarters didn't seem as painful as before.

At least until her ride jolted beneath her, causing them to flare up again.

She, the rest of Brynhildr Class and Najenda were accompanying the doctor up a mountain a few days' journey away from the capital on horseback.

It had not been a comfortable journey.

They got up early in the morning every day, and when she said 'early', she meant ' _early_ '.

Apparently the definition of 'morning' around here was 'before the sun rose', something she was not used to, being a native of the Land of the Rising Sun, where sunrise was almost always at an ungodly hour, and currently a student at a school with a dormitory literally just a few minutes' walk away from campus.

Her classmates were looking pretty exhausted too.

She imagined that much like her, they hadn't been getting much sleep.

Their dormitory beds were a lot more comfortable than a sleeping bag in a cramped tent.

The only thing currently keeping them awake was the constant movement of their horses.

This was the first time Mitsuki had ever ridden a horse, and she had to say that it was nowhere near as pleasant as she had imagined it to be.

The constantly changing incline of the path the horses were on ensured that the ride was uncomfortable throughout, and the musky stench of said steeds didn't help at all.

And she was starting to get motion sickness too.

The only ones who seemed to know what they were doing were Lisa and Firill, both having come from wealthy backgrounds and likely having ridden horses before, and even then, it was only marginally.

She was glad that it was almost over, though that joy dimmed at the thought of the journey back.

"We're here."

Mitsuki looked up, her nausea slowly dying down, and stared ahead wide-eyed.

Built on a plateau hidden in the mountain range was a beautiful Oriental-style villa, constructed right next to a cluster of natural hot springs.

"What…is this place?"

"These springs are called 'God's Healing Springs'. Each hot spring in this mountain range has a different medicinal and therapeutic property. Here in particular, the springs have strong detoxifying and rejuvenating properties. The two we're meeting are in need of them, and have been living here since the fall of the previous regime."

"Do they actually work?"

"There have been documented cases where those diagnosed to have half a year left to live have managed to extend their lives by 5 years, sometimes more, but compared to the number who did not receive visible results, they're the minority. The two in question are fortunate ones who happen to be part of that minority. Their prognosis is more promising now than it was 2 years ago."

It was at that moment that the villa's front door opened, pulling their attention away from the miraculous springs.

A tall young man with messy dark blue hair and eyes, wearing a white shirt, black pants and a red scarf with an anchor embroidery, stood at the doorway.

Mitsuki was stunned for a moment, for he looked a little like an older version of Yuu, but quickly dismissed the thought as she began to take note of the subtle differences.

"Awfully noisy out here. Is that you, doctor?"

"Hello, Wave. I've brought a few guests with me this time."

"General? This is a surprise. I thought you would be busy with the Empire's reorganization."

"Normally, I would, but something happened, and I thought I should come out to see you and Kurome."

"Would it have anything to do with the rest of your entourage?"

"Yes, actually. This is Yuu's little sister. She and the rest came here looking for him, and I think they may need some help understanding what happened 2 years ago. Your perspective should be quite insightful."

"Yuu's…I see. Well, I have no idea how helpful I can be, but I'll try. Just…let's not get Kurome involved in this, huh? I think she's relived all of it enough as it is."

"Relived what?"

Wave froze as another person emerged from the house behind him.

A young girl, around their age, maybe a little older, with shoulder-length black hair and black eyes, wearing a simple white dress.

"Oh, General Najenda! What a pleasant surprise! We haven't seen you in a while! What brings you here?"

"Like I was telling Wave, this is Yuu's little sister, and…"

"General!" Wave called out to stop her.

"…Oh, I think I understand. It's okay, Wave. I stopped having nightmares a while ago, remember?"

"But…reliving it again might…"

"I know. But, that's why I have you, right?" She said with a bright smile.

Wave sighed.

"…Alright. I guess I can't stop you. Come on in. I'll pour some tea."

Accepting his invitation, they stepped into the villa.

The inside was just as luxurious as the exterior would suggest, though perhaps because there were only the two of them living here, there wasn't that much furniture, leaving quite a bit of empty space.

Wave and Kurome led them to what was probably the living room.

They took their seat on the couches and chairs available while Wave left the room for a few minutes and came back with a tray of cups and a teapot.

"Wave, let's get started on your treatment." The doctor said, holding up his heavy bag of medical instruments and supplies.

"Now? But…"

"Sorry, but we can't wait around all day. Both the General and I are still needed in the capital. The sooner we get this done, the better."

"It's okay, Wave. You don't have to worry about me. You can join us once the treatment is over."

"…If you say so. Just don't overdo it, alright? Doctor, let's get this over with already."

"Of course."

The two men left the room, leaving only the girls behind.

Awkward silence filled the room.

"Wave is as concerned for you as ever, I see."

"It gets a bit overbearing at times. He treats me like I'm made of cracked glass."

"That's kind of his job, isn't it? As your former colleague-turned-husband."

Mitsuki did a double take.

They were married?

Neither of them seemed to be that far off from their age.

Maybe the general age of marriageable consent was lower here than in their world?

"In any case, shall we get started? What do you want to know?" Kurome asked them.

"Um, Kurome-san, was it? I noticed that your names are similar, so I was wondering if you were related to…" Lisa began to ask.

"Akame? Yes, she's my older sister. She still sends letters from time to time, but I haven't seen her since she left for the Eastern Territories with Yuu."

"Isn't that…kinda lonely?" Miyako asked.

As a little sister herself, she probably couldn't imagine not being able to see Haruka for that long.

"It does. I love her dearly, and naturally, I miss her every day. But I also have Wave, so it's not that bad."

Mitsuki could relate.

She herself had not seen Yuu for just as long, and without her friends, it would have been unbearably lonesome.

"Then, were you and Wave-san both part of Night Raid as well?"

Kurome stared at all of them with a look of bewilderment.

Then she turned to Najenda.

"You haven't even told them that much yet?"

"I figured it would be better if they came here without any preconceptions."

"I see. Well, this is a little awkward. Truth is, neither Wave nor I were part of Night Raid. Quite the opposite, in fact. We worked for the previous regime."

This time, it was their turn to stare.

"You two…worked for the previous regime?"

"Yes, though we left a few weeks before it fell. To be more specific, we were members of the Jaegers, a squad specifically created to deal with Night Raid."

"I'm sorry, but how could either of you justify working for a corrupt regime!?" Ariella asked in a highly provocative tone.

"A-Ariella-san!"

"It's okay. I don't mind. It's a fair question." Kurome said calmly, taking a sip of tea before continuing.

"By no means am I trying to justify my actions, but I will have to start with how I came to work for the previous regime. When we were children, my sister and I were sold by our parents to the Empire as slaves."

A sense of horror overcame Mitsuki, and she was certain she was not the only one.

Human slavery was not unheard of in their world, but this was definitely the first time she had ever broached the issue.

"It was a fairly common practice during the time of the previous regime. Small towns were ruled by corrupt lords, depriving their own people for material gain or simply for personal gratification. Our parents were desperate, and did all they could to survive. Humans are instinctively selfish creatures after all." Kurome said with a tone of acceptance.

Mitsuki didn't know if she could be that understanding if that had happened to her.

She could not even begin to imagine what it was like to be betrayed by your own parents.

"After that, we, along with a hundred other children, were thrown into a forest filled with ferocious Danger Beasts with nothing more than the rags they had given us to cloth ourselves, and a single instruction: get out alive. It was…a horrible experience, to say the least. We fashioned weapons from anything we could get our hands on, hunted and scavenged for food, sought shelter wherever we could, and we could barely sleep a wink for fear that we would be attacked in the middle of the night. At the end of it all, less than half of the hundred children thrown in made it out alive."

"What was this, some kind of sick entertainment!?"

"Well, that's not incorrect. But, for the most part, it was a selection process. To choose the children that possessed the greatest talent among the bunch to raise as assassins. The first 7 to reach the goal, in other words, the 7 most talented, would be trained in the mountains as an elite assassination squad, while the rest, the less talented, would be subjected to an even harsher regiment. My sister and I were the first 2 to get out of the forest, but we ended up being separated, with my sister becoming one of the aforementioned 7 while I was grouped with the rest. I was told it was to ensure that we would not become overly dependent on each other. And while the training the 7 were subjected to was by no means easy, what the rest of us experienced was much worse. We were force fed what we were told were performance-enhancing drugs, and while that was not a lie, they were also mind-altering drugs to ensure their loyalty to the regime through fear. And to cement that fear-based loyalty, a few of us who were not up to standard were killed in front of us. And like that, they engrained two things into our minds: Failing to complete our missions or betraying the Empire would result in our deaths. Nee-san saw the corruption of the Empire and chose to defect to the Revolutionary Army. She tried to take me along, but…" Kurome spoke, her body beginning to tremble.

"By that time, Kurome's mind was already too far gone, and her body had become dependent on the drugs to function. It's the whole reason we moved here to begin with."

Wave interjected as he walked into the room and placed a hand on Kurome's shoulder.

Almost immediately, her trembling stopped and she placed her hand on his for comfort.

"Then, the detoxifying springs outside are for…"

"To remove the drugs from Kurome's system."

Mitsuki thought she was going to be sick.

It was like one of Firill's horror novels, except this was very, very real.

"As for me, I don't have anywhere near as good a reason as Kurome. I initially joined the Imperial Navy, and was stationed on the Eastern coastline, far removed from the capital."

"Among all of the factions under the previous regime, the Imperial Navy was the least corrupt, because they were the furthest away from the Empire's sphere of influence. As a result, most of them were unaware of how bad things were in the mainland. Including Wave."

"Not that that was a good excuse. I got firsthand experience when I was reassigned to the Jaegers. The more time I spent in the capital, the more I could tell that there was something was wrong. My encounter with Yuu only further reinforced my doubts."

"With my brother?"

"Yeah. Our first meeting…well, it was memorable, definitely, though not in the good way. When I first met him, he was holding Kurome at knifepoint and was about to finish her off."

"She was a priority target before your defections after all."

"Right. Anyway, while I had my doubts about the Empire at that point, when I saw Yuu, who looked like a kid at the time, I got pretty angry at the Revolutionary Army for recruiting children. But, what Yuu had was real conviction. He did not join because he was forced to. He really believed that a revolution was the way to save the people. I was serving the Empire out of obligation more than anything else. He ended up sparing Kurome, but that meeting shook my faith in the Empire I was serving. By the time the revolution was at our doorstep, I was all but ready to defect."

"Only, I was still under the influence of the drugs. He refused to leave without me, so he ended up staying and continuing to serve the regime he had lost faith in. It was about that time that my sister and I decided to settle things once and for all, before the Revolutionary Army's final assault on the capital. A battle to the death."

"W-With your own sister!?"

"Those drugs seriously screwed with Kurome's mind. It distorted her love for her sister, twisting it into something unsightly, making her want to kill her sister as an ultimate expression of love. Her Teigu didn't help in that regard either."

"Her Teigu…?"

"I said it before, right? Each Teigu is sentient. It's how they select their wielders. And while most are more than happy to aid their wielders, some are much more malicious. One of those was March of the Dead: Yatsufusa. It had the ability to control the corpses like puppets, and was extremely bloodthirsty. It warped Kurome's mind even further, until she could not think of any other way to reach a resolution than killing Akame." Najenda explained.

It was just like the Muramasa blades from Japanese legend, unable to be sheathed until they had drawn blood at least once, and driving their wielders to commit murder or suicide to sate their bloodlust.

"Akame desperately wanted to save her sister, but…well, I suppose this went for all of Night Raid, but we had been fighting for too long, lost too much to even think of the possibility that this could be resolved peacefully. All of us had accepted that one of the sisters would die at the hands of the other as an inevitability, even Akame and Kurome themselves. In order to ensure that the revolution would be successful, Akame was prepared to cut even her own beloved little sister down. That was how strong her resolve was, and how much the Empire had warped her as well."

"But, Wave was the only one who would not accept that outcome. He interfered in the fight, even going so far as to break one of the greatest taboos when it came to Teigu. He used 2 Teigu at the same time."

"Is there a problem with that? Why is it a taboo?"

"Oh, didn't I mention it? Until Wave, no one has ever successfully used 2 Teigu at the same time. Teigu can only be safely wielded by the strongest of humans because of their immense power, but even the strongest would not be able to use 2 at once. Anyone who had tried before ended dying painfully. Wave is the only one who has ever succeeded, and even then, he paid a heavy price for it. Even though his time wielding 2 Teigu totaled less than an hour at most, he suffered massive internal injuries, which is the reason why he needs both the rejuvenating springs and the doctor's treatment every year, and one of his kidneys was damaged beyond any hope of recovery."

"Totally worth it. I was able to destroy Yatsufusa and save Kurome."

"You have very strange timing, you know that? Who confesses their love in front of their enemies?" Kurome retorted, though the blush on her face and her wide smile betrayed her true feelings on the matter.

"I'm a weird guy. That's why you love me, right?" He grinned back.

Mitsuki could admit to feeling envious of how close they were.

"Um…I'm…sorry for judging you too quickly…" Ariella apologized, her head bowed lowly in penance.

"It's fine. It's all in the past now. We have each other and that's all that matters to us."

"I think that explains quite a bit. Is there anything else you want to ask them?" Najenda asked.

"Then…what was your impression of my brother? What was he like?"

"Why are you asking us that? Shouldn't you know?" Wave asked, looking confused.

"Actually…"

Najenda proceeded to explain their situation to the both of them.

"Wow…from another world, huh? And memory loss on top of that…"

"Well, it does explain how someone that talented could have been overlooked by both the Empire and the Revolutionary Army for so long."

"He sure didn't fight like someone with memory loss, that's for sure."

"So my brother…was strong?"

"To put it lightly, yeah. One of the strongest and most talented I've ever met, probably just right below General Esdeath herself. It's been two years since then, so he's probably stronger by now, if he's still training."

"Hm…even among Night Raid, Yuu's talent when it came to assassination was second to none." Najenda concurred.

"It's just that…well, I hope that talent doesn't end up turning its talons on him. I'm not sure if we would be able to survive if he were to be consumed by that overwhelming talent of his, like General Esdeath was."

* * *

It was not long after that that they departed from the villa.

Mitsuki had certainly learned a lot about the events of two years ago, and she couldn't say she was particularly happy with what she had found out.

How was she supposed to react when they told her that Yuu's talent for killing was second to none?

And what Wave had said was certainly troubling her.

About Yuu possibly being consumed by that talent.

"I think we'll be parting ways from here for now. Doctor, could you make sure they get back to the Empire safely?"

"Eh? You're leaving, Najenda-san?"

"Like I said, I have to make a few preparations for your trip to the Eastern Territories. One of those preparations would be getting escorts for you all. It's a dangerous place you're heading to, and I'd rather not have your deaths on my conscience. To say nothing of what Yuu would do to me if he found out I let his little sister die on my watch."

Mitsuki felt a bit of indignation flare up once more at the insinuation that they were weak, but she found herself unable to argue.

Compared to Night Raid or the Jaegers, they definitely left much to be desired.

"So, who exactly are you looking for?"

"Two of my former comrades from Night Raid. Tatsumi and Mine."

* * *

And done.

This chapter went on way longer than I expected, especially the past segment, and I'm still not particularly pleased by how it turned out, especially the last parts.

That coupled with my exams last month is the reason why this chapter is so late, sorry about that.

Anyway, just two more chapters until Brynhildr Class meet up with Yuu and Akame.

It doesn't seem like I'll be able to build up the relationship between Yuu and other members of Night Raid aside from Akame within that, so I was thinking of writing some canon omakes showing the interactions between them.

What do you guys think?

Well, that's all for now.

As always, please read and review.


	4. Chapter 3: Partings and Meetings

Past

"Well, I guess this means that any hopes of a clean assassination are now way out of the question." Yuu said drily.

"There wasn't much of a chance of that in the first place. Even if Borick ever left the cathedral or his residence, he would almost certainly be guarded by at least 2 Jaegers, 2 Rakshasa Demons, or Esdeath herself." Najenda noted.

They had just heard a report from Tatsumi and Mine that they had been ambushed by Seryu Ubiquitous of the Jaegers and Suzuka of the Rakshasa Demons outside the city and had subsequently defeated and killed both of them in very spectacular and attention-drawing ways.

This was only two weeks after Akame had been ambushed by Ibara at night, and Lubbock had been forced into a confrontation with Mez and Sten, all three of whom were the other members of the 4 Rakshasa Demons.

At least this battle hadn't been in the city, like Lubbock's had, or there would have been catastrophic levels of collateral damage.

With this, all 4 Rakshasa Demons were dead, along with 1 member of the Jaegers, which meant a drop in the enemies' combat prowess, not that meant much with Esdeath present, but also that security was going to be tightened to an all-time high until Borick assassinated the Lord.

There was basically no chance that they would be able to target him outside of the cathedral or his residence.

And a head on battle with Esdeath and the remaining Jaegers was now inevitable.

"No use crying over spilled milk. In fact, this may even be beneficial to us. Susanoo, Leone, how long until the tunnel is finished?"

"To avoid drawing suspicion, I'd say about 4 or 5 days." Leone estimated, turning to Susanoo, who nodded in agreement.

"4 or 5…according to our sources, Borick intends to assassinate the Lord on the anniversary of the Path of Peace's founding, about 3 weeks from now. Looks like we'll barely make it in time. Let's go over the plan again. If you see any potential flaws, don't hesitate to correct me." Najenda said as the atmosphere in the room immediately got heavier.

It had been almost a whole month since the bulk of Night Raid, led by Akame, had arrived in Kyoroch and immediately began reconnaissance, taking note of Borick's routine.

What they hadn't expected was that the Jaegers were already in town, and that even before them, the 4 Rakshasa Demons, the Prime Minister's personal squad of executioners, strong enough to match Teigu users without any of their own, had already been guarding Borick.

That definitely put a monkey wrench in their plans.

They had to be much more cautious when moving around the city, and going anywhere near the cathedral or Borick's residence was suicide.

From the limited surveillance they could perform, it appeared that Kurome still hadn't recovered from the damage that Chelsea's needle had done to her body.

They couldn't tell if she had managed to acquire new puppets or had stitched her old ones back together, but at the very least, Kurome herself appeared to be no threat.

Wave, on the other hand, was on the warpath, likely still pissed about Kurome's injuries, and agitated by Yuu's words.

It was hard to say whether his agitation would make him easier or harder to fight.

It was also there that Yuu managed to get his first glimpse of Esdeath.

Even though they were separated by a distance of more than a kilometer, it still felt like dozens of razor sharp blades were being pointed at him.

He couldn't even imagine what she was like up close and personal.

He could definitely see why she was considered the greatest threat to the Revolutionary Army.

Najenda, Susanoo and Chelsea had arrived a week later, the latter outfitted with new prosthetics, but just as they had expected, she could no longer function at her normal capacity, and they could not spare another Teigu for her to use.

And just as Yuu feared, she was taking it hard.

Especially since she was sidelined for anything other than simple surveillance.

Roughly a month had passed, and five of the enemy's numbers had fallen.

Hopefully, it would make things just slightly easier when the time came for the actual mission.

"We've decided to have the assassination take place at the cathedral. Borick's residence is riddled with traps, and with Esdeath's presence, it would be next to impossible for our limited numbers to take his life without most or all of us being killed in the process. On the other hand, the architecture of the cathedral's main hall and the large objects in it provides convenient covers for us. According to our intel, Borick will be holding his monthly night of prayer next week. It'll take up most of the evening, but the adherents should clear out by midnight. Borick returns to his residence about half an hour after that, so that 30-minute window will be when we strike. We'll need the tunnel to be ready by then."

"No prob. It's next week, right? Suu-san and I will be done by then." Leone declared with a broad grin.

"But, boss, wouldn't Esdeath of all people already be expecting an underground infiltration by now?"

"Of course. She may be a monster in human flesh, but she's also one of the Empire's greatest tacticians. If power was the only thing she had, she wouldn't be as feared as she is. Being an obvious route for assassins like us to take, she is doubtlessly expecting it while also accounting for every other possible route of entry. That's why we'll be splitting into two groups. The first group will enter through the tunnel and charge in head on to create a diversion and draw their attention towards us. That group will consist of Susanoo, Leone, Tatsumi and I."

"I see. Since we're the ones drawing enemy fire, all the members need to have either a strong defense or exceptional recovery."

"Exactly. Our attack will draw the attention of Esdeath and the Jaegers, but we won't be fighting them head on. We'll lead them on a wild goose chase. With them after us, the security around Borick will drop massively. That's where the second group comes in. They will infiltrate the cathedral from the sky using the Air Manta and assassinate Borick while he's vulnerable. Akame, Mine, Lubbock, that will be your task. Chelsea and Yuu, you two will accompany the second group, but your target won't be Borick. Instead, I want you two to stay hidden and observe Esdeath."

Yuu blinked.

"Esdeath?"

"Yes. Initially, the Revolutionary Army's plan to deal with Esdeath was to force her into a confrontation with an army of 100000 soldiers and an elite squad of at least 10 Teigu users, including Akame and her Murasame. The One Cut Killing Sword was meant to be our trump card against her, having been the only weapon we were sure would work on her. However, Esdeath is aware of the threat that Akame and Murasame present to her, and knowing her, she probably has at least 1 countermeasure ready. That's where you and your unique abilties come in."

Yuu nodded, understanding what she was planning.

"Right now, while Wave and Kurome would have reported your existence and the fact that you're wielding Balzac to her, they don't have any idea about your abilities. That will be our hidden trump card against Esdeath. While the diversion team is fighting her, I want you and Chelsea to suppress your presences and observe her. If she shows an opening, take advantage of it and use your other ability to kill her. But, _only_ if she shows an opening. Once you've been exposed, your effectiveness against her will drop massively. Understand? You only have one shot at this. If she doesn't present any opportunities, you two retreat back here immediately. The rest of us will find another way out." Najenda said firmly, making it clear that there was no room for argument in this.

Yuu was reluctant, not at all comfortable with the thought of possibly having to leave his comrades behind with that monster in human flesh.

But, he acknowledged that this was the plan that presented the greatest chance of success, along with most, if not all of them getting out alive.

So, he nodded.

"Good. Then, prepare yourselves, everyone. One week from now, we will eliminate Borick."

* * *

"Thought I'd find you here." Yuu said as he stepped onto the roof of their temporary hideout in Kyoroch.

Night had fallen, and almost everyone had gone to sleep.

Akame, Tatsumi, Mine and Lubbock had turned in early to recuperate from the wounds they had received from their respective battles, with the former two's lighter than that of the latter two.

Leone had passed out drunk at some point after dinner, which was a fairly common occurrence unless a mission was coming up.

The only ones still awake were him, Najenda, who was still fine tuning the plan, Susanoo, who did not even require sleep to begin with, being a Teigu…

…And the person he was looking for.

Chelsea turned around, a forlorn expression visible on her face for a brief moment before she registered his presence and quickly covered it up with a wide smile.

Yuu didn't need to be a master of human psychology to tell that it was fake.

"Hey, what are you still doing up?" She asked with false cheer.

"I could ask you the same thing. I noticed that you've been coming up here almost every night since you got here. You want to talk about it?"

Her smile faltered slightly.

"Ah, was it that obvious?"

"Everyone could tell something was eating at you. So, what's going on?"

Though he had a pretty good guess as to what it was.

"…Have I ever told you the story of how I joined the Revolutionary Army?"

"…No, I don't believe you have."

"Well, I suppose now's a good time as any to tell you. My childhood…well, it was by all means normal. I grew up in an average household in the countryside, far removed from the corruption and decadence of the capital. When I was 16, I was sent to work in the local governmental office, since I had done well in my studies. My initial goal was simply to rise through the ranks, marry into a good family and have an easy life. But, those carefree thoughts of mine vanished within my first week of working. Bribes and blackmail were commonplace in the office, and even worse, the viceroy was a monster who made a hobby out of hunting other humans. Backroom dealings, human hunting…the longer I worked there, the more my disgust at them became directed at myself for becoming accustomed to the sight. And worst of all, I learned that this was only a taste of the corruption that had enveloped the Empire. I wanted so desperately to do something…but I knew that a single girl couldn't do anything. Disgust became despair, and then nihilism, slowly whittling away at my soul. And just when I was ready to give up completely, I stumbled upon Gaea Foundation in the viceroy's treasure room."

He blinked and stared at her.

One of the Empire's strongest weapons had just been sitting around in the treasure room of a small fry viceroy collecting dust?

"It had been given to the viceroy's predecessor as a sign of good faith from the Empire before the Prime Minister made a mess of it, but they couldn't find a compatible user for it, so they just stored it in the treasure room. I wasn't sure if the viceroy even knew it was there. But, I knew it the moment I saw it. It was calling out to me. I could wield it, and it wanted to be wielded. I bided my time and stole it when no one was paying attention, and using its transformation ability, I got close to the viceroy and assassinated him. The people rejoiced at the death of the tyrant, and the next viceroy who was elected governed the territory fairly and justly. Even if it was only a small difference, miniscule compared to the level of decadence that had overtaken the country, I had made a change. And like that, my rotting soul felt like it had been reinvigorated. If I had managed this tiny change by myself, then maybe with help, I would be able to change the Empire itself. That's why I joined the Revolutionary Army." She concluded.

Yuu nodded absentmindedly as he processed the story and reason behind her joining the revolution.

"Years passed, missions, targets, enemies and comrades of all sorts came and went, and now, we're finally on the verge of success. And yet…look at me…!" She hissed with no small amount of self-loathing as she held up her prosthetics.

The appendages severed by Kurome's puppets had been replaced by metal ones with reasonable likeness to the originals.

If skin was wrapped around them, no one would probably be able to tell the difference unless they were touched.

It was certainly a far cry from the bulky hunk of metal that Najenda sported, indicating that the Revolutionary Army's research into artificial body parts had advanced quite a bit since her defection.

Probably due to the rising need for them with Esdeath around.

But despite the advancements, Chelsea was not back to her 100%.

According to whoever worked on her, she should eventually regain 60% of her original capacity, an improvement over Najenda's 40%, though only marginally, and that wasn't even considering that Chelsea's original capacity was lower.

"My hands ended up like this, Gaea Foundation is gone, and I'm getting sidelined for every mission…How am I supposed to help change the Empire like this!?"

Yuu thought about telling her that she had already done enough, but dismissed the idea immediately.

That was no different than agreeing that she was useless as she was now, and that would not be helpful in the slightest.

He had no idea how to cheer her up.

This wasn't exactly his department.

If he had no words to offer her…then, maybe a gesture?

He awkwardly wrapped his arms around her, causing her to stiffen.

Then, she buried her head in his chest and screamed.

He wisely chose not to say anything when he felt his shirt getting damp, and simply focused on making her feel better.

Eventually, he didn't feel any more water running down his shirt, so he figured she was done and released her.

Her eyes were red and a little swollen, but the tightness in her features had vanished, an improvement over how she was just a few minutes ago.

"…Thanks."

"Don't mention it. And don't worry either. The revolution isn't over yet, and until it is, all of us still have our respective jobs to do, something only we can do. That includes you as well. So, you should rest and recover, so that you'll be ready when the time comes. And until then, I'll fight your share too."

"…Pfft. That sounds like something Tatsumi would say. You been taking lessons from him?"

"What, in smooth talk? We both know Tatsumi isn't that slick, or he would have already noticed how Mine's acting around him."

"Well, that's still new. Give him time. Maybe he'll learn."

"Hmph, sure, maybe if Mine hits him over the head with a giant signboard that says 'Notice Me'."

"…Yuu, really. Thanks."

"…Like I said, don't mention it."

* * *

"By now, the diversion team must be making a ruckus on the cathedral grounds. You ready, Mine? Once we reach the roof, blast a hole through it with Pumpkin, and Akame will move in for the kill."

"Yeah, I've only heard the plan about a dozen times tonight. I totally needed you to tell me again."

"Just making sure. This might be the most dangerous op we've had to pull off yet. One misstep and we'll find ourselves on the business end of Esdeath's icicles."

"You know, you're being a real downer right now."

"I think it's called 'being realistic'. It's you who's way too optimistic. Though, I guess with what you're going to say to Tatsumi after this, it's only natural."

"Buh!? You were eavesdropping on us!? Forget it! Forget everything you heard immediately!"

Yuu pinched the bridge of his nose as he watched Mine and Lubbock argue.

They were about to cross over into enemy territory and they were still being so carefree.

Weren't they supposed to be his seniors?

Their group of 5, known as the infiltration team for this operation, was currently soaring through the air above Kyoroch on the back of the Air Manta HQ had loaned them for this op.

The diversion team had gone in ahead of them to wreak as much havoc as they could to draw attention to themselves and away from Borick so that they could make their move.

The cathedral was already in sight.

The only thing left to do was execute the plan.

But as it was often said, no plan survives contact with the enemy.

Yuu's ability warned him of an immediate threat right behind them, confusing him for a moment.

They were in the air above the city at the moment.

Who could possibly be attacking at this altitu-

He whipped around in realization, catching sight of a white, winged figure in the distance, contrasting sharply with the almost pitch black sky, catching up to them with unnatural speed.

Ran of the Jaegers.

It couldn't be anyone else.

"Enemy rapidly approaching from behind!" He warned the rest.

Mine and Lubbock immediately stopped arguing and turned around, the former already in a firing stance with Pumpkin, but Ran flew right past them.

"Crap!"

"Just as we predicted, a second team coming in from the air. It appears that we were superior in strategy this time."

Mine, the only one capable of attacking him in the air, tried to get a lock on him, but he was zipping around them far too quickly for even her to follow.

"However, trying to launch an assault from the air even knowing that it was my territory…I suppose that would be an example of poor strategy."

A barrage of Mastema's feather projectiles slammed into the Air Manta's soft underbelly, killing it on the spot and causing it to fall out of the sky…with them still on it.

"I won't let this chance slip by."

Ran fired another barrage, this time aimed at them.

"And I won't let this pinch slip by either!" Mine roared as Pumpkin whirred loudly and unleashed a concentrated blast that incinerated the incoming feathers and sped towards the airborne Jaeger.

Ran stopped his pursuit and attempted to avoid the blast, but it still managed to graze his side.

And even though it was only a momentary exposure with a small part of the beam, it still left an ugly burn on his skin.

Pumpkin's specs increased proportionally to the level of danger its user was in.

Being attacked by another Teigu user while plummeting to her death was definitely high up the scale.

Ran, realizing how dangerous Pumpkin was, wisely chose not to continue pursuing them.

One part of the danger was averted, but they weren't out of the woods just yet.

"Everyone hold on tight, this is gonna be a rough landing!"

Lubbock spun an impressive length of thread, rapidly weaving it into a thick net around the Air Manta's carcass, acting as an extra cushion for the fall.

And not a moment too soon.

They hit the ground hard, but with both the net and the Air Manta's carcass absorbing the impact, they miraculously did not sustain any injuries.

But, they had hit a snag.

Ran had shot them down before they could reach the cathedral.

They were now behind schedule, which meant that the diversion team had to deal with Esdeath even longer.

"We have to hurry. The others won't be able to hold out for long."

"You're not going anywhere. Your opponent is me."

Before they could take a step in the direction of the cathedral, another figure appeared before them.

Wave, the only other Jaeger who had been unaccounted for, had arrived.

And he was not looking happy.

He seemed extremely agitated, and was glaring daggers at them.

Or more specifically, at him.

If looks could kill, Yuu would have been stabbed, flogged, crushed, burnt and electrocuted several times before finally being buried six feet under alive.

It looked like he had made a lasting impression, and not a particularly good one either.

"Grand Chariot!"

The black full body armor that was based off of Tatsumi's Incursio appeared and wrapped around Wave's body.

Yuu's ability immediately started analyzing it.

As expected of a later model, the materials it was made of was even more durable, and had far fewer structural flaws and weaknesses than Incursio did.

And the ones it did have would be hard to reach in a battle.

This was going to rough.

Mine opened fire on him, but with the heightened physical capabilities granted to him by his Teigu, he easily sidestepped it and charged at them.

Akame responded in kind, brandishing Murasame.

Before Yuu could stop her, she had already attacked, hitting Wave in the abdomen, one of the places on Grand Chariot that wasn't covered by thick metal plates.

However, even the seemingly defenseless suit underneath was tough, tough enough to take a full power blow from her without a scratch.

Wave lashed out with a fist, catching Akame in the stomach and sending her flying into a tree.

Immediately afterwards, wires wrapped around him, courtesy of Lubbock, binding his arms to his torso tightly enough that he should not have been able to move them at all.

But move them he did, forcibly loosening them with sheer physical strength.

Just as he was about to turn to Lubbock, Yuu dashed in, his short sword in hand, sliding in low and striking the back of Grand Chariot's knees with a full force swing.

This was one of the few weak spots that it shared with Incursio, and while he hadn't managed to cut through to the skin, the rubber-like material began to tear and fray at the spot he had struck.

The force of the impact caused Wave's knees to buckle, and while he was down, Yuu slammed the butt of his short sword into his helmet.

Being one of the armored parts of Grand Chariot, he didn't expect to deal any damage at all, but that should have rattled his brain and disoriented him.

And just as he thought, Wave dropped to the ground groggily, his sense of balance disrupted.

Yuu leapt back, giving Mine the opportunity to fire on him.

An explosion lit up the night, Wave's armored figure vanishing in a plume of flames, smoke and dirt.

But, with Grand Chariot protecting him, he highly doubted that Wave had taken any significant damage.

He prepared to continue fighting, but Akame placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Wait. We can't waste any more time here. By now, the diversion team must already be fighting Esdeath. Leave him to us. You and Chelsea should go support the others."

"Doesn't seem like he'll let me go so easily though."

Akame nodded.

"He seems fixated on you for whatever reason, so the moment he comes out, you two run for the cathedral. He'll go after you and leave himself open to the rest of us. We'll catch up to you after we deal with him."

"Got it."

He caught Chelsea's eye, and she returned a nod, getting the gist of the plan.

A sound told them that time was up.

Just as Wave emerged, unscathed from the blast, Yuu and Chelsea dashed right past him.

"Come back here!" The Jaeger roared as he came after them.

Or at least, he tried to.

However, he found himself stuck in place, once again bound by Cross Tail's threads, this time anchored to a tree.

"This again!? I'll just…!"

He strained against them like he did before, but this time, they didn't budge an inch.

"Sorry, but those are my best threads. I'd be pretty troubled if they were broken so easily." Lubbock said.

"Hnngh!?" Wave grunted as the wires began to tighten around him.

Cross Tail's Trump Card, Realm Severing Threads, was no joke.

Lubbock's ordinary threads, made from the various hairs of an Ultra Class draconic Danger Beast originating from the Eastern Territories' mountaintops, were already strong enough to resist almost any conventional weapon and cut through steel when used with enough force.

The Realm Severing Threads, created from its whiskers, were even stronger than that.

Even the power of another Teigu would not be able to break them so easily, especially not when they were wrapped so tightly.

Yuu had no doubt that Wave would break out eventually.

Lubbock did not have the physical strength to keep an armor-type Teigu restrained forever.

However, it would buy him more than enough time to get away.

"Dammit…!" Wave roared, a sound that grew fainter and fainter as Yuu got further and further away, towards the cathedral.

"Hey, who are you!?"

"Idiot, who else could it be!? It must be Night Raid, just like General Esdeath predicted!"

Four men, 3 wearing the uniform of the Imperial Army, and the one who appeared to be the leader dressed in a cheap suit, wearing sunglasses even though it was the dead of night and smoking a cigar, stepped in their path.

Borick's personal bodyguards, most likely.

While the former 3 were wielding ordinary weapons, as unusual as they looked, his ability told him that the folded scythe that the leader was holding was dangerous.

A Teigu?

Strange, they hadn't heard anything about a Teigu user among Borick's faction.

Had he been keeping it a secret even from the Prime Minister himself?

It didn't matter.

Using his ability to seek out the best method of killing all of them at once, Yuu easily cleaved right through the first three in a single fluid motion, forcibly disarming the leader when he reached him and ramming his blade through his throat before he could do anything.

The scythe wielder let out a gurgle before he dropped, the unknown Teigu falling to the ground with him.

"Nice work. You're getting better at this." Chelsea commented.

"…I'm confused. Is getting better at killing people a good thing or a bad thing in this scenario?"

"I guess that would depend on who you ask. I personally think it's a good thing. The better you are at killing, the higher your chances of killing Esdeath. Anyway, what about that?" She asked, pointing to the folded scythe.

He would have picked it up to examine it, but he recalled that attempting to use 2 Teigu at the same time was an absolute taboo, one that usually resulted in death when broken.

He had no idea if just picking it up would constitute as an attempt to use it, and he really wasn't eager to find out in the middle of Night Raid's most important operation to date.

Luckily, Chelsea solved the problem for him by doing it herself.

"This is a Teigu, right? It's definitely not one I recognize…is it one of the Teigu that was lost in the civil war 500 years ago?"

"Whatever the case, we should take it with us. It's better than leaving it around for the Empire to retrieve later."

"I agree. Who knows, it might even come in handy later. I am short of a Teigu right now."

"I…really don't think you should be messing around with a Teigu we know nothing about, but I guess if anyone can figure out how to use it, it would be you."

"Great! Now, let's get going. You can hear that, right?"

Yuu assumed that she was talking about the sounds of battle within the cathedral, audible through the walls.

They would have been attention grabbing to anyone else, but to Yuu, the overwhelming murderous intent radiating from inside the cathedral was far worse.

There was no doubt about it. Esdeath was inside.

It appeared that the commotion the diversion team had made wasn't enough to draw her out.

Which meant that they were likely also inside, engaging her.

"Let's head for the roof. We need a vantage point to observe the situation."

According to the blueprints they had obtained, there should be an access ladder on the side of the main building right…

"…There."

The two of them of them quickly ascended to the roof and found their footing just in time for the whole building to shake beneath them.

Whatever was going on inside, there was a lot of power being thrown around.

Suppressing their presence to avoid alerting their enemies, they moved towards the stained glass dome that was supposed to be directly over the main hall.

Thankfully, parts of it had already been shattered during the course of the battle inside, allowing them to look in without having to risk getting caught.

It was not a pretty sight.

The once immaculate hallowed hall of prayer now lay in ruins, having taken the brunt of the attacks that had missed their intended target.

On the raised platform at the end of the hall, Yuu spied their target, a middle-aged man with brown eyes, hair and beard, being guarded by Kurome, who was still looking worse for wear, and Natala, who had evidently been stitched back together by his mistress, though he could vaguely make out patches of his visible skin that appeared to be discolored, or slightly out of place on his body structure, indicating that some of him had been unsalvageable from the state that he had left him in.

If he recalled Akame's explanation of Yatsufusa's ability properly, the corpse puppets worked best when their bodies were as pristine as possible, and any damage would result in a drop in performance, since Yatsufusa could only make them imitate the way they acted when they were alive.

A damaged body or unfamiliar parts only hampered that.

So, it was safe to say that neither Kurome nor Natala were as strong as they were during their previous encounter.

His eyes combed the rest of the hall.

He twitched when he noticed Susanoo, frozen in a massive icicle, Najenda lying on the ground next to him, unconscious and covered in dirt and cuts.

Since the former was a biological Teigu, it probably wasn't doing anything other than keeping him from moving, and once Najenda regained consciousness, she could bust him out at any time by activating his Trump Card.

It was only that thought that prevented Yuu from panicking.

It was short-lived as his gaze reached the center of the hall.

Standing there, completely unscathed and smiling in a terrifyingly serene manner, was a tall, beautiful woman with ice blue hair and eyes, dressed in a white military uniform, holding a rapier in her hand.

Esdeath.

His survival instincts warred against his ability, the former telling him that this was an incredibly stupid undertaking, and the latter relishing the opportunity of being able to take on someone so strong.

He suppressed both of them, because what he needed was absolute focus, to find an opening.

His eyes trailed further down and froze.

Lying at Esdeath's feet, half-dead, was…

"Leone…!" He hissed quietly.

The older sister figure of Night Raid was flat on her back, lying in a pool of her own blood.

Lionelle was still activated, and it was only because of that that she had survived what Esdeath had done to her.

Her right arm, right breast, right toes, left foot and left eye had all been severed, and her cheek, left hand and tail had been stabbed multiple times.

The sheer vitality that Lionelle granted her was keeping her alive, even after the mutilation, but he could not even imagine how much pain she was in right now.

He had to stop himself from jumping in to save her.

Doing that would only result in both of their deaths.

Unfortunately, someone else didn't seem to get that memo.

Esdeath abruptly stepped to the side, avoiding an attack from Tatsumi as he broke his invisibility and confronted her.

"That reckless idiot…!" Yuu quietly cursed.

He definitely understood how Tatsumi must be feeling, but that was a monumentally stupid move.

If he had remained invisible, he could have eliminated Borick unseen, and then all of them could have focused on getting the fuck out alive.

"Well, if it isn't Incursio…I always wanted to try fighting you!" She proclaimed, brandishing her rapier at him as the ambient temperature began to drop.

The two faced each other down, neither moving an inch.

Tatsumi could not seem to find an opening in her stance.

And Esdeath…she looked…hesitant?

Why on earth would she be hesitating now of all times?

Using his ability, Yuu could see plenty of openings in Tatsumi's stance, and a battle maniac like her should have been able to too.

Did…she figure out who it was underneath the armor?

No…judging by the look on her face, she seemed just as confused.

She raised a hand to her chin, an expression of confused consideration on her face as she looked at Tatsumi.

"Magatama…2nd Manifestation!"

Najenda had roused, and had activated Susanoo's Trump Card.

An aura of white energy cloaked the biological Teigu trapped in the ice as his hair bleached out to snow white, his horns turned black and his clothes shredded themselves to reveal his armored body and his core.

"Najenda…? What is that?"

"You shouldn't have taken your eyes off of the rest of us. Every single one of us is tenacious to the extreme. Susanoo, eliminate the target!"

The ice shattered, and Susanoo shot forward towards Esdeath, swinging a heavy, energy-cloaked fist at her face.

The Empire's Strongest leaned backwards, allowing it to sail past her.

At that moment, Tatsumi joined in, working with Susanoo to press her.

However, even when fighting two of Night Raid's frontline fighters, Esdeath still looked completely relaxed, idly blocking and deflecting their blows.

Yuu knew for a fact that both Tatsumi and Susanoo had more than enough physical strength to pulverize the average human, but here she was, not a hint of any protection whatsoever on her person, catching their full power punches and kicks like they were children throwing tantrums.

He had heard horror stories about Esdeath and her absurd power, but he hadn't imagined that she was this powerful.

However, this also provided him with an opportunity.

She was completely focused on her two opponents, since Leone had lost consciousness from pain and/or blood loss, Najenda was on the verge of collapsing from the strain of activating Susanoo's Trump Card and the rest of Night Raid was nowhere in sight.

She would not expect another attack.

And best of all, her back was completely turned to him, meaning that she would not be able to detect him through sight.

It was only the barest of opportunities, and if the target were anyone else, he would not have taken it, opting to wait for a better one to show itself.

But, this was the Empire's Strongest.

The chances that they would be able to catch her off guard again were…exceedingly low.

He looked to Chelsea, who was supposed to be his spotter for this op.

She nodded grimly in agreement.

They could not let this chance slip by.

Yuu took a moment, and only a moment, to think of his approach.

Based on the way she was moving while blocking Tatsumi's and Susanoo's attacks, she would soon pass underneath the glass dome.

The hole in the glass was large enough for him to slip through unheard.

In that case, the best place to aim for a killing blow was…

…The back of her head.

Surely even Esdeath would not be able to survive a blade through her brain.

Yuu took a deep breath…and loosened the chains on the beast inside of him.

Ever since the battle against Bols and Kurome, he had a faint inkling on the identity of this unknown beast he harbored inside of him.

Most likely, it was simply a representation of his human-killing ability.

He could feel it even when he wasn't even battling.

If he didn't keep it under restraints, it would attempt to lash out at any human nearby.

Such was the depths of its enmity towards humanity.

Yuu had no idea of its origins, or why it hated humanity so much, but it did not change the fact that this was his greatest weapon.

A weapon capable of taking even Esdeath's life.

He knew it could do it.

It was practically salivating at the thought, just waiting to sink its fangs into her.

Yuu steeled his resolve as Esdeath slowly and steadily moved closer and closer.

…Now.

He dropped down through the hole, his presence completely concealed and his blade at the ready.

As soon as she was within range, Yuu stabbed forwards with all of his might.

The blade sailed through the air between them, the beast in him roaring with delight as it approached its prey.

And just as its fangs were about to reach her…

…She threw herself forward and ever so slightly to the side, causing his blade to sink into her shoulder rather than his intended mark.

"Wha-!?"

Esdeath swung around abruptly, causing him to lose his grip on his short sword and knocking Tatsumi and Susanoo aside.

"Well now, who might you be?" She crooned as she caught sight of him just as he landed on his feet.

Yuu shivered as a specter of impending death bore down on him.

He leapt backwards, just in time for Tatsumi to launch himself to the same position and grab him.

Tatsumi's larger frame enabled him to fully cover Yuu's smaller body, and after activating his invisibility Trump Card, both were hidden from sight.

They began to move out of their way, preparing for their next move.

But…

"Foolishness. Even if I can't see you, I can still sense you!" Esdeath declared as she thrust her rapier right at them.

Tatsumi's armor protected them from the worst of the damage, but the force still knocked both of them into a wall, and disrupted the invisibility.

It was no use.

Now that she was aware of his presence, hiding from her would be next to impossible.

Now what?

* * *

Najenda watched with anticipation as Yuu dropped from above, silently descending towards Esdeath, who remained none the wiser to his approach.

The timing was perfect, at least that was how it seemed to her.

Esdeath was completely absorbed in her battle with Tatsumi and Susanoo, she did not expect another fighter to appear, and her back was completely turned to Yuu's position.

Another opportunity like this was unlikely to arise.

She was so sure that she would witness the death of the Empire's Strongest, and the turning of the tides of this war.

But, that anticipation turned to shock and horror as Esdeath had once again pulled off the impossible and avoided the death blow.

Not completely, but that wound was nowhere near debilitating for her.

What the hell just happened?

Had the timing been off after all?

Did she see him coming?

"That's not it, Najenda. Those weren't the actions of someone who was aware of an incoming attack." Susanoo said as he landed next to her.

Her shock must have been evident on her face for him to guess what she was thinking.

"With her power, if she knew that attack was coming, she would have knocked the two of us aside and cut Yuu down before he reached her. But, she didn't. Instead, she just dove forward. That damn monster…her instincts are sharper than a beast's. The effectiveness of Yuu's ability worked against us on this occasion. It was precisely because it was so dangerous that her instincts were set off, warning her that there was an immediate threat to her life close by, and since she did not know where it was coming from, she just dove down instinctively, which just so happened to let her avoid a fatal injury." He said with a growl, his normally passive attitude doing a 180 and becoming aggressive when his Trump Card was active.

Najenda scowled.

She knew Esdeath would have become even stronger than she was back when she had just defected to the Revolutionary Army, but she hadn't expected the difference to be this great.

To think that she would be able to avoid an ability tailor made to kill humans…

No, what was she talking about?

This was Esdeath.

Doing the impossible was par for the course when it came to her.

"…It's fine. It's unfortunate that we failed to kill her on this occasion, but this doesn't change the original objective. Susanoo, keep the fight going, and the moment she shows an opening, go after Borick. After that, we can focus on escaping from Kyoroch."

"Understood."

Susanoo rejoined the battle, getting Esdeath off of Tatsumi's and Yuu's backs long enough for them to recover.

As she watched the battle, Najenda felt resignation nestle within her bosom.

Even if they managed to kill Borick here, their chances of getting out alive were abysmally low.

Now that she knew of Yuu, Esdeath would be taking this seriously.

Even if they managed to escape, it was almost a guarantee that at least 1 or 2 of them would die in the process.

And if it came to that…

Najenda resolved herself.

She was the one who had led them on this suicide mission.

And they were in this situation because she had grossly underestimated Esdeath's power.

At the very least, she had to make sure that they got away.

Even if it cost her life.

* * *

Susanoo rejoining the battle meant that the two of them finally had room to breathe as Esdeath's attention was pulled away to deal with the biological Teigu.

"Suu-san!"

Tatsumi made to go help, but Yuu held him back.

"Wait! Esdeath isn't an opponent we can attack carelessly. We have to think this through."

"We don't have time for that! Suu-san is…!"

"Suu-san would agree with me. Calm down and believe in him. He won't fall so easily."

"…Alright. What do you have in mind?"

"Listen carefully…"

As the battle between Esdeath and Susanoo raged on, Yuu whispered his plan into Tatsumi's ear.

Incursio's wielder nodded and grabbed him, making sure to cover him completely as he turned invisible once again.

They circled around Esdeath and Susanoo, making sure to suppress their presence as much as possible and stay out of the way of their attacks.

As he had expected, even Esdeath could not ignore the deep wound he had inflicted on her.

With the hole in her left shoulder and the blade that caused it still stuck firmly in place, she was noticeably favoring the right side of her body more than the left.

It still did not seem to be debilitating enough for Susanoo to overpower her, but as a result, the battle between them was now more even than it had been before.

An opening would surely come as long as they waited long enough.

Susanoo would make one for them.

Another exchange of savage blows pushed the two combatants away from each other, giving the humanoid Teigu the opportunity to summon his sword.

The absurdly long, transparent sword seemed deceptively fragile and unwieldy, but its cutting power was the real deal, being able to tear right through a Desta Ghoul, an Ultra-Class Danger Beast, like a hot knife through butter when swung with sufficient force.

That same sword arced through the air towards Esdeath, who immediately put up a multi-layered wall of ice to defend herself.

The entire cathedral shook to its foundation as an immense offensive power clashed with an equally impressive defense, rubble and dust falling around them.

The stalemate lasted all of a few seconds before Ame-no-Murakumo tore through the ice wall and cut all the way to the back of the cathedral.

However, it was all Esdeath needed to duck down, allowing the long blade to sail over her head as it broke through her defense.

"I see. Not bad for an impromptu defense."

"That physical strength of yours is impressive, but it certainly isn't enough to reach me, even with this wound." Esdeath declared with absolute certainty.

"I already knew that much. But, I think you're indulging in this battle just a little too much. You didn't even notice that I was aiming for the ones behind you." Susanoo said with a smirk as he pointed to the raised platform, obscured by clouds of dust, behind her.

Esdeath's smirk disappeared as her eyes widened.

"Kurome, are you alright!?" She called out as she whirled around.

Yuu hoped for a moment that she would not get a reply.

That Borick had been killed in that attack and that they could focus on running like hell in the opposite direction.

But, no such luck.

"We're fine!"

Natala emerged from the dust clouds, carrying Kurome and Borick under his arms.

The puppet had evidently taken the brunt of Susanoo's attack, judging by the damage to his corpse and the lack of injuries on Kurome's or Borick's persons.

He fell to pieces immediately after, Kurome's patchwork unable to keep his body together any longer, dropping his two wards unceremoniously.

"Tch…so, I can't even enjoy this battle…I swear, this is the last time I'll ever play bodyguard." Esdeath said as she clicked her tongue, a look of annoyance on her face.

At the same time, countless icicles had begun to converge behind her, forming an immaculate cluster floating in the air.

It was an amount of ice that was completely incomparable to what she had been using before.

"I won't bother capturing you anymore. I'll pulverize you down to your core!"

A hail of razor sharp icicles bore down on Susanoo's position.

Anyone else would have been torn to shreds on the spot by the sheer number raining down on them.

However, Susanoo had another trick up his sleeve.

"A powerful attack indeed. Experience it yourself!"

The metal discus floating in the air behind Susanoo shifted in front of him, white light gathering in the opening in the middle.

The shield of absolute projectile reflection, Yata-no-Kagami.

The icicles collided with it, vanishing into the light before they shot back out in Esdeath's direction with just as much force.

Caught off guard, Esdeath was struck by her own attack.

"Now…!"

Susanoo did not have the power to really make Esdeath go on the defensive, not even while his Trump Card was active.

That was how monstrously powerful she was.

But, what if that monstrous power was turned against her?

They couldn't have asked for a greater opening.

With Esdeath momentarily preoccupied with tanking her own attack, Susanoo activated his last ability, Yasakani-no-Magatama, cladding his body in a golden aura that temporarily increased his physical capabilities, and dashed past her.

The greatest obstacle had been momentarily halted, and Kurome was preoccupied with Natala's dismembered corpse.

There was no better time to deal with Borick.

And this was also his and Tatsumi's best opportunity.

Tatsumi immediately let go of him and undid his invisibility, shooting towards Esdeath with Neuntote materialized and his presence flared.

At the same time, Yuu kept himself low to the ground, another short sword phasing into existence in his hand, his presence suppressed and his ability activated.

This was their plan.

The moment Esdeath showed an opening, Tatsumi would charge straight at her while flaring his presence as much as possible to get and keep her attention on him.

His role was not to engage her, merely to distract her.

By keeping her focused on the obvious threat, Yuu could close in on her without being detected.

And once she was within range, he could go for the kill.

It was an exceedingly simple plan on paper, but executing it against Esdeath was all but impossible after he had been exposed to her.

If it weren't for Susanoo, they would not have been able to carry it out.

And now, the tip of his blade careened upwards, straight towards her jaw, the beast inside of him all too eager to sink its fangs into the prey that had eluded it once before.

It was ove-

"Everything shall freeze before me, Mahapadma!"

* * *

The world around her halted, hued in a shade of ice blue.

Esdeath pulled out the short sword stuck in her shoulder, allowing the unremarkable blade to fall to the ground with a clatter, and glanced towards the spear tip that was literally inches away from her eyes, and the blade, identical to the one that had drawn her blood, that was even closer to her jawline, and then at the ones holding those weapons.

She had to admit, it was a good plan.

Use an obvious threat to disguise the real one.

As hastily put together as it was, she had to acknowledge its effectiveness.

She hadn't even noticed Balzac's user until the world had already frozen around her.

If it weren't for the Trump Card she had completed just a few days ago, she might very well be dead on the floor right now.

Her Teigu, Demon's Extract, was unique in how it did not have a preset Trump Card of its own unlike other Teigu.

Possibly because the First Emperor had known just how powerful it was in the right, or perhaps wrong, hands and did not want it getting any stronger.

Esdeath did not particularly care.

She had defeated enough Teigu users by herself to prove that she did not need a Trump Card.

It wasn't even for combat purposes that she had initially conceived this Trump Card.

She had created it to ensure that Tatsumi would not be able to escape again once she found him.

So, she had to applaud Night Raid.

They had forced her to use the Trump Card she hadn't originally intended for battle.

But now that she had, they had no chance of winning.

Mahapadma, her own personal Trump Card, given a name that was completely out of place with the rest of Demon Extract's techniques as proof that this was something unique to her, completely froze the time and space of the area around her, and for a period of time, she was the only thing within the area that could move.

It had plenty of limitations though.

Even she did not have the power to freeze the time and space of the entire world, and could only affect the area around her.

The greater the area of effect, the shorter the duration became.

Furthermore, regardless of how long she actually kept this technique up or how wide the area of effect was, the minimum energy expenditure was such that she could only afford to use this once a day.

And for practical use, she could only maintain it for a few seconds to avoid spending so much energy that she would not be able to continue fighting afterwards.

However, even those scant few seconds was more than enough to turn the tides of a battle.

She looked once more at Balzac's user, and smiled.

She hadn't used her full power by any means, but he had still managed to corner her to this degree.

And most of all, he had wounded her.

A praiseworthy achievement indeed, something that no one else had been able to manage.

What was his name?

Yuu…was it?

She vaguely recalled him being addressed as such earlier.

She could sense that he still had plenty of room left to grow, and thus decided to spare him on this occasion.

The rest would not be so lucky.

Najenda was weaker than she was back when she had defected, the biological Teigu appeared to have reached the limit of its power and the Lionelle user did not seem to be capable of getting any stronger.

She would kill them in front of him, and his thirst for vengeance would ensure that his power would skyrocket by the next time they met.

And then, she would have a truly entertaining opponent on her hands.

The Incursio user…she could tell that he had yet to hit his full potential as well, but he had also been completely unable to keep up with her at all.

She wasn't sure whether he was worth sparing.

She supposed she could just flip a coin to decide later.

She moved behind them and struck them hard in the base of their necks.

Once time was unfrozen, the transmitted force would ensure that they would not be able to move for a while.

She walked over to where the biological Teigu was frozen in midair, about to attack her charge, and stabbed it from behind, the long blade of her rapier emerging from his chest, just beneath what she presumed was its core.

She supposed that she should deal with Najenda too, but she was weak enough that she could handle her at her leisure later.

The same went for the Lionelle user.

She ended Mahapadma's effects, and the world began to move once more.

Yuu and the Incursio user collapsed to the floor instantly, and ice began to rapidly creep up and encase the biological Teigu's body.

"Wha-!? Susanoo, get out of there!" Najenda shouted when she saw the predicament her Teigu was in.

"You won't escape!"

Esdeath lashed out with a powerful kick, shattering the cocoon of ice, and the biological Teigu along with it.

Her eyes traced the path of its core as it arced through the air and landed on the floor, where she promptly stomped on it and shattered it.

"Quite the impressive bunch you've managed to gather, Najenda. I honestly did not think I would have to resort to my Trump Card in this battle. It's a pity to have to eliminate such amusing foes, but wiping out Night Raid is the job I have been entrusted."

Though she did intend to spare at least one of them.

Movement at her feet caught her attention, and she looked down to see several of the biological Teigu's many pieces, still covered in layer of frost, inching towards her, as though still intending to fight even in its current state.

She looked over to the pile of shattered ice, spying movement from each piece.

"My my, to think it can still move even after its core was destroyed. That's quite the resilient Teigu you had, Najenda. But, it doesn't appear to have enough power left to regenerate. It's over. With this, there is no one left who can still fight."

She lost interest in Najenda, whose face had twisted into an expression of defeat, and glanced at Yuu.

She was curious what he looked like under Balzac, and she should commit his face to memory if she was going to end up meeting him in the future.

And while she was at it, she might as well take a look at whoever was using Incursio.

Judging by the fighting style, it didn't seem to be '100 Men Slayer' Bulat, and there had been rumors that the infamous deserter had died in the battle with her deceased subordinates, the Three Beasts.

She walked over to them, vaguely hearing and ignoring Borick gloating in the background, and grasped Balzac and Insurio's helm, preparing to remove both of them.

And then the ceiling's glass dome shattered.

She turned to see Night Raid's most infamous member, 'One Cut Killer' Akame, the origin of that moniker, Death in One Cut: Murasame, in her hands, and a pink-haired girl wielding Najenda's old Teigu, Roman Artillery: Pumpkin, descending amidst the shower of stained glass shards.

"Honestly, just like rats…!"

Esdeath waved a hand in the direction.

Immediately, a massive block of ice formed overhead and dropped towards them.

"Pumpkin!"

A blast of pure energy shot out of the firearm-type Teigu's barrel, colliding with the ice block and vaporizing it.

Meanwhile, Akame drew Murasame and dashed towards Borick, who had stepped off the platform at some point and was right next to the fallen Lionelle user.

Damn…!

"I won't let you…!"

Esdeath made to intercept her, but before she could take more than two steps, she felt strong murderous intent coming from behind.

She ducked down, allowing an armored leg to sail over her head.

The Incursio user had regained consciousness.

Had she misjudged the amount of force needed to keep him down?

She wouldn't make that mistake again.

She lashed out with a fist, intending to strike him in the throat, but it stopped unexpectedly.

Her hand had been caught in his grip.

It was literally by a hair's breadth, but he had successfully reacted to her attack in time.

She was about to break out of his grip when her instincts started screaming at her.

She looked down to see Yuu also awake, his short sword tearing towards her heart.

She wouldn't be able to dodge completely in time.

So she did the next best thing and put up a layer of ice between her body and the blade, causing the latter to glance off the frost.

But, doing so had wasted even more time.

"Gyaaah!"

She turned in response to Borick's strangled cry, and caught sight of blood spurting from the cut on his throat that Akame had made with Murasame.

She clicked her tongue and kicked her two attackers aside.

Not that she could do anything.

Already, she could see the black markings of the cursed blade's poison spreading over his uncovered skin.

It was too late for him.

"Mission failed, huh?"

That was certainly a first.

Her subordinates sometimes failed missions, which often necessitated her cleaning up their messes.

But not her.

She experienced setbacks, issues, hiccups and unexpected developments, but she always succeeded in the end.

That was precisely the reason why the Prime Minister entrusted her with important missions like this instead of exclusively having her mobilize to suppress rebel forces.

This was the very first time she had failed a mission.

And it was _not_ a good feeling.

The Prime Minister was going to be very cross with her for this.

But, it mattered not.

Even if she had failed this temporary assignment, there was still her original mission.

To wipe out Night Raid.

And she had no intention of failing that too.

And there was no better timing than now to fulfill it.

Most of Night Raid's members appeared to have gathered.

She would kill them in one fell swoop.

Barring one, of course.

She raised a hand, preparing to call up the full might of her boreal powers, when a powerful presence made itself known behind her.

She turned to see the biological Teigu, fully regenerated, cloaked in white energy and floating in the air, staring down at her.

How was that possible?

She had shattered it into itty bitty pieces, including its core.

It shouldn't have had the power to regenerate…

…Unless.

She looked back at Najenda, to see that she was the source of the white energy around the Teigu, literally pouring everything she had into it.

"Najenda, you…!"

She cut herself off and quickly dropped an ice block between her and the fist coming at her at an alarming speed.

A loud thud echoed through the hall as the biological Teigu's fist collided with the ice, failing to break through the frozen block that Esdeath had purposely densified to increase its defensive capabilities.

However, Esdeath found herself being pushed back by her own ice, the whole structure being shifted by the attacker's power.

"Hm…its power increased again, huh?"

This biological Teigu was certainly the strongest opponent she had ever faced as far as physical strength went.

However…this was still nowhere near enough to reach her.

She absentmindedly adjusted her hat as the ambient temperature began to rapidly drop.

It was about time to clean up the trash.

* * *

Damn, his neck hurt like hell.

And he didn't know why.

One moment, he and Tatsumi were attacking Esdeath, and the next thing they knew, they were waking up on the floor, with her standing over them.

They had retained enough lucidity to stall Esdeath when Akame made her move on Borick, but he imagined Tatsumi was as confused as he was about what happened.

They did not have the luxury to standing around and figuring it out.

Borick was dead.

They had accomplished their main objective.

Now, they just had to get the hell out.

Tatsumi had already picked Leone and Najenda up.

Mine and Akame were falling back while stalling Kurome.

Chelsea had yet to be detected.

Lubbock had presumably already retreated.

The only one left was Susanoo…

*BAM*

Speak of the devil and he would appear.

Susanoo landed beside them, blown backwards by Esdeath's attack, looking worse for wear with holes gouged into his armored body.

Esdeath strolled almost casually towards them, with not even a scratch on her person.

Even with Susanoo's increase in power, he still couldn't manage a clean hit?

" _You damn monster…!"_ Yuu internally growled.

And even worse than her unharmed state was the ice that was crawling across every surface within the hall.

It had already reached and covered both the hole in the ceiling and the doorway behind them.

Their only viable escape routes had been cut off.

And even if they weren't…

The sheer murderous intent emanating from Esdeath's entire being was…daunting, to say the least.

She obviously had no intention of allowing them to escape.

Was an all-out battle with her unavoidable now?

But…they couldn't afford it.

They lacked the sheer power needed to take her head on, and by now, enemy reinforcements would be converging on the chapel.

If they didn't get out now, they would die.

Their only hope was to incapacitate her and run while she was down.

But considering who their opponent was, it was a tall order indeed.

It was all but impossible for all of them to get out of this alive.

"Leave this to me. All of you, prepare to run. I will stay behind and create an opening for you." Susanoo declared as he brandished his sword solemnly.

"Susanoo…?" Najenda murmured tiredly, still worn out from exhausting her lifeforce earlier.

"W-What are you saying, Suu-san!? In order to fight Esdeath in the future, your power is needed…"

"As you just saw, even my power at its peak is unable to reach her. And as a Teigu, I do not possess the capacity to surpass my limits like you humans can. With all of my Trump Cards already revealed and rendered ineffective against her, my usefulness has run out. My role in Night Raid is at an end. However, yours is just beginning. You must survive. All of you do."

"Boss, talk some sense into him!" Tatsumi beseeched their leader, who he was carrying over his shoulder.

Najenda made eye contact with her Teigu, but did not say anything.

And yet it felt like hundreds of unspoken words were being conveyed to each other.

Najenda closed her eye, an expression of grief overtaking her features for a moment before hardening.

"…Everyone, prepare to retreat. Susanoo will stay behind to stall Esdeath."

"Are you serious!?"

"Don't forget why we're doing this. Our job is to ensure that the revolution succeeds. We can't do that if we're dead. We have to choose the option that allows for the most of us to survive. Even if it means having to leave someone behind." Najenda said firmly, even though it was clear that she wished it was her instead.

"It looks like you're all planning your escape, but…do you really think you can get away from me? I'm a little more motivated than usual at the moment." Esdeath said as her sheer power bore down on them, though her relaxed pace had yet to increase.

The room temperature continued to plummet, and if it continued that way, they would soon find themselves unable to move.

If they were going to act, they had to do it now.

But, Esdeath had a point.

Right now, she was exhibiting even more power than she had before.

Susanoo alone might not be able to stall her long enough for the others to escape.

The answer was obvious.

Another had to stay as well.

And it was obvious who it should be.

He had failed to kill Esdeath.

It was his fault they were in this mess to begin with.

At the very least, he had to make sure that the rest of them got out alive.

He brandished his short sword, preparing for a hopeless battle of endurance, when Susanoo raised an arm and stopped him.

The biological Teigu had a sad smile on his face as he shook his head.

"Your thoughts are written all over your face. It's not your time yet."

"What…? But, we need at least one more person to stall her-"

"That's where I come in."

Yuu turned to see Chelsea.

Right next to him, _in_ the cathedral, with the rest of them and facing impending death.

 _Not_ hiding on the roof where she could retreat unnoticed.

"Why are you here!?" He hissed at her.

He paused when she smiled radiantly and turned to Susanoo.

"Looks like this is it for us, Suu-san."

"Are you sure about this?"

"Yeah. I've lost Gaia Foundation and a good deal of the functionality in my hands. Even this Teigu isn't enough to make up for that, since I haven't quite figured out how to use it yet. This is about it for me. In that case, all I am capable of now is making sure the rest gets out of this alive." She said in a casual manner, as though commenting on something as mundane as the weather rather than self-sacrifice.

Yuu paled considerably.

Was she doing this…because of what he had said to her on the rooftop that night?

He grabbed her shoulder, about to try and convince her not to throw her life away, when she suddenly took her headphones off, slapped them onto his head abruptly, grabbed him by his waist and pulled him into a kiss.

Not a chaste one, but a deep kiss, her tongue plundering the inside of his mouth ruthlessly before she let go and separated from him, both of them breathing heavily.

He didn't need a mirror to tell that he was blushing harder than she was.

The heat in his cheeks was all he needed.

"What the hell are you doing!?"

She winked at him.

"Just take it as something to remember me by, though I'd like to think that I've already made quite an impression on you." She said with a sultry grin.

Yet, the trace of melancholy in her voice and her words made it clear that she was fully prepared to sacrifice herself here.

"Take this as well."

Susanoo's hand reached up to where his core was embedded in his armored chest…and ripped out the magatama-shaped construct.

"Wha-!?"

"It's fine. I can still function without my core. I simply won't be able to regenerate if my body is destroyed again. Since I have already used up my bag of tricks, I really don't have any more use for it. However, you might be able to make use of it in some way. I'd be more than content if that was the case." The biological Teigu said as he dropped it into Yuu's open hand.

"Now, it's time for you to go. We will keep Esdeath occupied. My dear comrades, who have brought me more joy in our short time together than in the past 1000 years…this is farewell." Susanoo declared.

He charged at Esdeath, who simply held a hand up and created a swarm of icicles that rained down on the biological Teigu, prompting a swift response as he swung Ame-no-Murakumo to smash them.

Chelsea winked at them before she brandished the Teigu she had picked up earlier, causing the folded scythe to extend and ran to support Susanoo.

"…Mine, blast the door open." Najenda ordered.

"…Pumpkin!"

A laser slammed into the rime-covered doors, ripping them off their hinges and opening up their way out.

"Retreat."

Yuu was torn, his head telling him to obey Najenda's orders to turn around and run, and his gut telling him to stay behind to fight, to increase Susanoo's and Chelsea's chances of staying alive, even if only by a little.

Before, he had followed his gut, which had led to him saving Chelsea in time, but…

…The opponent this time was just too overwhelming.

And among all of Night Raid, he and Akame were the ones who stood the greatest chance of killing her.

Killing Esdeath would turn the tides of the war massively in their favor, and coupled with assassinating the Prime Minister, would all but ensure the success of the revolution.

He couldn't recklessly squander his life away.

They would have to wait to kill Esdeath under more favorable circumstances.

Like with the Revolutionary Army's main forces backing them.

And…he had to honor their wishes.

They were giving it all they had to ensure that the rest of them could live to fight another day.

Getting himself killed uselessly was as good as spitting on their conviction.

So, he hardened his heart, and left with the others.

And in that moment, he never hated himself more.

* * *

Even after getting out of the city walls, they didn't stop running until after sunset the next day.

That was the minimum distance they had to put between them and Esdeath that they were even remotely comfortable with, and even then, for a full week after that, their paranoia had achieved new heights, constantly on the lookout for either the Empire's Strongest or the other Jaegers.

They took a long detour just to throw them off their trail, travelling towards the southern region of the continent before heading for the capital rather than making the return trip through the same route they took to Kyoroch in the first place.

With Borick dead, it wouldn't take long for the Path of Peace to begin their uprising against the Empire, which would also incite rebellion among the oppressed citizens, and once that happened, the Western Tribes and the Revolutionary Army's main forces would mobilize as well.

In order to fight on all of these war fronts, the Empire would have to send out a minimum of three forces.

And as strong as Grand General Budo and his Imperial Guards reportedly were, even they could only fight on one front at a time.

With the Imperial Army, that was still only two.

Most likely, Esdeath and her corps would also have to be mobilized, which meant that she would have to get off their backs.

The detour also bought them the time they needed to heal up from the injuries they had sustained during the mission.

He, Tatsumi and Mine had gotten off with fairly light wounds, all things considered, only needing a week or two to fully recuperate, which was why they took turns taking care of the necessary heavy labor, like hunting for food.

Akame and Lubbock had suffered broken bones from their confrontation with Wave, and would need at least 4 months to properly set, which was about how long this detour would last before they started heading back to the capital.

Leone had been severely maimed by Esdeath, and even with Lionelle's vitality and Cross Tail's threads, it was going to take a few months for her to fully recover.

And the one in the worst condition was Najenda.

She had managed to avoid the worst case scenario of dying immediately after activating Susanoo's Trump Card for the 3rd time, but there was no doubt that her lifespan had been shortened.

Exactly by how much, they couldn't tell.

Susanoo and Chelsea…were killed in action.

They knew this even before the Revolutionary Army's spies had reported it to them.

But it didn't make the news any less painful, the last miniscule glimmer of hope that had been hidden beneath jaded realism snuffed out mercilessly.

Yuu sat alone in the tent he shared with Tatsumi and Lubbock, the former having gone out with Mine to hunt for food while the latter was outside, looking down at Susanoo's core in his hand.

Najenda had told them that even with it, reconstructing Susanoo was impossible.

All knowledge of Teigu creation was lost with the first generation of the Empire.

They wouldn't even be able to recreate a relatively simpler Teigu like Belvaac or Cross Tail, much less one that was sentient and as complex as Susanoo had been.

And even if they could…it wouldn't be the same Susanoo they knew.

What made him uniquely their comrade was already lost.

…It was his fault.

If he had just a bit faster, so that even Esdeath's monstrous instincts would not be able to react to him in time…or if he had the strength to break through her ice…

…It was too late for regrets.

Two of his comrades had paid the ultimate price for his weakness.

He couldn't let it happen again.

And the only way to ensure that was to get stronger.

He reached down and removed Balzac from where it was fastened to his belt.

Balzac…was not an inferior Teigu by any means.

Were it in the right hands, it would be just as terrifying as Murasame.

The problem lay with him.

He lacked the power to make it a truly effective weapon.

That mission had opened his eyes to just how great the disparity between his and Esdeath's power was.

It was a great gap that could not be closed by training alone, no matter how harsh it was.

Not in time for the revolution anyway.

In that case, what could he…?

His grip around the core tightened as frustration came to the forefront.

If only…he was as strong as Susanoo was…

If he had at least that level of strength combined with his ability, killing Esdeath would not be a mere distant dream.

If only…

…If only…

He paused, frustration flowing away as another possibility emerged in his mind.

He looked down at the core again.

As far as he knew, it had never been done before.

In fact, it might very well be impossible.

But, if it did succeed…

His mind made up, he rose to his feet, preparing to share his idea with the others.

And then another thought occurred to him.

If what he was about to suggest to the others actually succeeded, then there was a possibility he would not be able to wield Balzac anymore.

He had no idea what constituted 'wielding a Teigu', but he was not willing to risk it.

After all, the multiple Teigu taboo was one that not even a monster like Esdeath dared to break.

"It looks like this is farewell, my comrade. It pains me to have to part from you, but…I need to obtain an even greater power. However, I will remember you fondly. Thank you for everything." Yuu spoke softly to the mask-shaped Teigu as though it was alive.

A pulse radiated from Balzac, allowing him to gleam a faint sense of understanding and bittersweet sentiment from it.

He placed it back on his belt, without the intention of ever wielding it again, and walked outside towards the girls' tent, where Najenda, Akame and Leone were resting.

The trio looked up from whatever discussion they were having when he entered their tent.

"Yuu? Do you need something?" Najenda asked, her gaze alternating between him and the core he held in his hand.

"I'd like to suggest something."

The beast within smiled wickedly as another one of the chains binding it, preventing it from doing as it pleased, slackened.

It wasn't enough for it to regain its freedom, but that was fine.

The seeds of anger had been planted in the battle earlier, and were germinating most gloriously.

One more strong push was all that was needed, and this little crusade that its warden had joined would surely provide it.

It wouldn't be long now.

* * *

Present

Mitsuki twitched as her ride jerked under her.

Again.

She thought she would have gotten accustomed to that by now, but no, her hindquarters were as sore as ever.

And just when it had recovered too.

For 2 days since they returned from Wave's and Kurome's villa, they were left mostly to their own devices, though under scrutiny.

Most of them spent them catching up on the sleep they had lost on the two-way trip, though she heard that Firill had holed herself up in the library for most of the 2nd day, having her poor assigned guard translate book after book for her.

Then, on the 3rd day, the doctor came for them, informing that they would be departing that same day, for preparations were nearly complete, and they would be able to set sail by the time they reached the port on the eastern edge of the continent.

It had been 3 days since then, and from what the doctor said, they were 3 quarters of the way there, thankfully.

Mitsuki did not think that she would be able to take any more of this slow torture for much longer.

And just as they passed through a city, the doctor had his steed halt.

"Stop for a bit. We'll be meeting up with your escorts here."

"Here? Couldn't we have met them in the city back there?"

"Unfortunately not. It's a bit inconvenient for them to meet in such a crowded place."

"I…see. Exactly what are they like?"

She knew the names from Najenda's recount, but that didn't give her any insight into their personality.

But since they had been comrades in liberating the Empire from corruption, they couldn't be too bad, right?

"Oh, I'm sure you'll be surprised." The doctor smiled mysteriously.

And then he perked up.

"Ah, I think I can hear them now." He said as his gaze turned skywards.

Mitsuki blinked in confusion.

And then her ears started to faintly pick up something in the distance.

The sound of something massive moving rapidly through the air, much like a plane.

She looked in the same direction as the doctor…and almost fell off her horse in shock.

As did most of her classmates.

The thing tearing through the skies towards them was a blur with how fast it was moving, but the general shape was something horrifyingly similar to something else they knew.

It landed heavily a short distance away, digging into the grassy loam beneath it, allowing them to take a good look at it and confirming their fears.

A massive reptilian body, covered in black scales and silver armor-like plates, blade-like teeth, limbs ending in sharp claws, bat-like wings sprouting from its back and inhuman red eyes.

It was unmistakably a dragon.

Much like the 7 gargantuan monsters that terrorized humanity in their world.

She had no idea if this one posed as much of a threat as the 7 Dragons of Earth, but she wasn't willing to take the risk.

And by the looks of things, neither did the rest of Brynhildr Class.

All of them, including herself, had already formed their Fictional Armaments, preparing for a fight.

"Stop, stop, stop. That isn't an enemy." The doctor interjected, placing himself between them and the dragon to stop them.

His assurance did help her relax a little, but she tensed again as the dragon neared them, staring down at them with its disturbing eyes with cross-shaped pupils.

"SO THESE ARE THE ONES WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE ESCORTING? QUITE THE UNFRIENDLY BUNCH, AREN'T THEY?"

A voice, if it could be called that, impossibly deep and infinitely terrifying, emitted from the dragon's maw.

Mitsuki recoiled in shock.

It could speak!?

"Maybe it's because of that ugly mug of yours."

A softer, feminine and definitely human sounding voice came from…behind the dragon?

A petite girl, who looked to be her age, perhaps younger, with long pink hair tied into twintails and pink eyes, with a rifle strapped to her back, hopped off the dragon.

"IN THAT CASE, IT'S FOR THE BEST, RIGHT? SAVES YOU THE TROUBLE OF HAVING TO WARN THEM OFF."

"Please, as if anyone else would be insane enough to get involved with you."

"SO WHAT DOES THAT SAY ABOUT YOU?"

"That I'm the only one in the world with enough patience to tolerate you for extended periods of time?"

"FAIR ENOUGH."

The doctor strode forward to greet them.

"Tatsumi, Mine, good to see you two. Thank you for coming on such short notice."

"No joke. Do you have any idea how hard it was to get a sitter for the kids?" Mine complained halfheartedly.

"Apologies for that, but it really couldn't be helped. Najenda has already told you what this is about, right?"

"Basically, yeah. It's quite a surprise though. A little sister we never heard of showing up out of nowhere. And from another world too."

"YOU SURE ABOUT THEIR STORY? I DON'T SEE ANYONE AMONG THEM WHO EVEN REMOTELY RESEMBLES YUU." The dragon said as he regarded them one by one.

And then its eyes fell on her.

"THOUGH, HIS SCENT IS CLINGING ONTO THAT ONE, FAINT AS IT IS."

"That would be the little sister in question. As for their story, the important parts seem to check out. Najenda seems to believe it."

"Well, if boss buys it, I guess that's good enough for us. Nice to meet you all, I suppose. I'm Mine." The girl greeted them.

"AND I'M HER HUSBAND, TATSUMI. NO NEED FOR INTRODUCTIONS ON YOUR SIDE. BOSS ALREADY FILLED US IN." The dragon continued.

Mitsuki felt her jaw unhinge and hang loosely.

"Wait, _you're_ Tatsumi-san? But, from your name and what Najenda-san said, I thought…"

"THAT I WAS A HUMAN? I GET THAT A LOT. WELL, I GUESS I CAN'T FAULT YOU FOR THAT ERROR. NO ONE WOULD EXPECT A BEAST TO HAVE A HUMAN NAME." Tatsumi said, the corners of its wide open mouth curling upwards to form a horrifying, teeth-filled grin.

"There's a fairly simple explanation for it though. Tatsumi used to be a human." Mine said matter-of-factly.

"Used to be?"

"IT'S A LONG STORY, SO I WON'T BORE YOU WITH THE DETAILS, BUT LONG STORY SHORT, I LOST MY HUMANITY IN THE COURSE OF THE REVOLUTION. WELL, THAT'S JUST THE PRICE I ENDED UP PAYING FOR NOT DYING." Tatsumi said with a shrug of his boulder-like shoulders.

"Remember when Najenda and I mentioned Tatsumi's 'affliction'? This is what we were talking about. I've been looking into a way to restore his humanity, but I haven't made any headway."

"WELL, NOT LIKE IT'S A MAJOR PROBLEM. THIS BODY IS STABLE, AND I'VE GOTTEN USED TO IT."

"Though I imagine it puts a bit of a cramp on your sex life, among other things."

Mitsuki wondered if it was possible to simultaneously have your blood rush to and drain from your face, because that was how she felt at the moment.

Embarrassment on the casual conversation about sex, and horror at interspecies intercourse.

Both feelings grew when she noticed that both Tatsumi and Mine were avoiding the doctor's gaze.

The doctor seemed to realize that too.

"…Right?" He asked, though it sounded more like a desperate plea for them to agree with him than a genuine question.

"…LET'S JUST SAY HYPERADAPTABILITY HAS ITS PERKS."

"…You know what, let's just leave it at that. I really don't want to know."

"GOOD. I REALLY DIDN'T WANT TO HAVE TO GO INTO DETAIL EITHER."

"More importantly, shall we get going? I prefer not to stay anywhere near that damn city." Mine said, directing a look of distaste towards the city walls behind them.

"YEAH. DID WE REALLY HAVE TO MEET HERE OF ALL PLACES? THAT'S THE PLACE WE LOST TWO COMRADES." Tatsumi said, glaring in the same direction with such intensity that it felt as though everything within his field of vision might just spontaneously combust.

Their words did, however, draw her attention back to the city they had passed through.

That was where two members of Night Raid met their end?

The city where the citizens seemed to be in a constant festive mood?

"My apologies, but both the General and I are needed in the capital, so we can't escort them all the way to the port. This just happened to be the most convenient place to meet, considering how close it is to the capital."

"Hmph. In that case, shall we get moving? I'd rather not stay around here any longer than I have to."

"Ah, before that. Mine, this is for you."

The doctor untied a metal case that had been hanging from his horse's saddle and handed it to her.

"And what's this?" Mine asked as she accepted it.

"A weapon for you to use. I imagine that hunting rifle doesn't quite cut it."

She opened the case, revealing what appeared to be a dismantled firearm.

But, it certainly didn't look like any conventional firearm Mitsuki had ever seen.

Granted, she didn't know a lot about guns, but just by looking, she counted 3 different stocks and the same number of barrels, one of which looked like a blade.

"Pumpkin…? No, a replica?"

"Indeed. While its performance is obviously inferior to the original, the difference shouldn't be all that great."

"We'll see about that. Tatsumi?" Mine said as she removed various parts and assembled them with practiced ease.

"REALLY? GUESS I GOT NO CHOICE…" The former human grouched exasperatedly.

Mine grinned as she brandished her assembled firearm, which looked like an assault rifle combined with a blade.

"LET'S GET THIS OVER WITH ALREADY." Tatsumi grumbled, as he lowered his knees, bracing himself in the ground, and crossed his thick arms in front of his chest, as though to defend himself against an incoming attack.

That was about when Mitsuki realized their intention.

But before she could say anything, a laser shot out of the blade-like barrel and slammed into Tatsumi's braced arms.

The dragon grunted as the beam pressed against him for all of a second before dissipating, quickly followed by a second that ended the same.

"Hm…firing speed is about half of what it was before, and the recoil is substantially greater too…Tatsumi, how did you find the firepower?"

"I'D SAY IT'S ABOUT 60% OF THE ORIGINAL." He replied as he brushed his arms where the laser had made contact.

"Lower than what I would have liked, but all things considered, it's impressive you managed to make a replica that could come this close to the original, doctor."

"Well, it's only because Pumpkin wasn't that badly damaged when it was rendered unusable, so we were able to salvage a good number of the parts, including a part of the core. If it weren't for that, we wouldn't have gotten anywhere. In any case, I would advise you not to use its Trump Card as liberally as you did in the past. This replica isn't quite as durable as the original. I included a maintenance kit for you to use, but twice in a row is the limit before it breaks. Although I don't think you could go past that in your current condition."

" _Current condition?"_ Mitsuki wondered to herself.

"I see. In any case, thanks for this, doctor." Mine said, not elaborating any further.

"No problem. Well then, I leave them in your capable hands. I will be returning to the capital. I wish all of you good luck."

"Thank you for all of your help, doctor." Haruka said with a bow, which the rest of Brynhildr Class quickly mimicked.

"I didn't really do much. If you want to thank me, you should wait until I find a way to send you all back to your world." The doctor shrugged as he took up the reins of his horse and rode it back towards the city.

"Well then, we should get going too. The port is a five day journey from here."

"WE CAN USE THAT TIME TO PROPERLY BRIEF YOU."

"Brief us? On what?"

"ON THE EASTERN TERRITORIES. WE BARELY KNEW ANYTHING ABOUT IT TWO YEARS AGO, BUT NOW, WE HAVE A FAIRLY CLEAR IDEA OF WHAT IT'S LIKE OVER THERE. THANKS TO YUU'S AND AKAME'S PERIODIC REPORTS."

"My brother…"

"WELL, THEY HAVE BEEN OVER THERE FOR 2 YEARS NOW. IT'S ONLY NATURAL THAT THEY'VE STUDIED THE LAY OF THE LAND. ANYWAY, THE NAME THAT THE NATIVES HAVE TO THE EASTERN TERRITORIES IS 'WAKOKU'."

"Wakoku…? That's the oldest recorded name that was given to my home country back in our world." Mitsuki noted.

"HM, THAT'S QUITE A COINCIDENCE. PERHAPS WAKOKU IS THIS WORLD'S EQUIVALENT OF YOUR WORLD'S COUNTRY?" Tatsumi guessed.

"Moving on, the southern part of Wakoku's continent is split into 24 smaller countries, each ruled by a different dictator. According to the locals, all 24 countries have been embroiled in a war to decide Wakoku's true ruler for the past century. At present time, there are only 5 countries remaining. The other 19 were wiped out over the course of the 100 year war."

"W-Wiped out!? Does that mean!?"

"No, no. Not in the literal sense. I mean they were defeated and conquered in the course of the war, and were assimilated into one of the remaining 5. The names of the remaining 5 nations are as follows: Soukai, Saryuu, Hakuya, Gekkou and Tenrou. And currently, the first 4 have formed an alliance to defeat Tenrou, which poses the greatest threat with its immense military power."

"Then, are my brother and Akame-san participating in this war too…?" Mitsuki asked with a growing sense of dread.

"ACTUALLY, NO. YUU AND AKAME HAVE CHOSEN TO ABSTAIN FROM THE WAR. TENROU, WHICH IS RULED BY A CRUEL AND VICIOUS DICTATOR, ASIDE, THE OTHER 4 ARE HEADED BY BENEVOLENT LORDS WHO SEEK TO DO RIGHT BY THE PEOPLE. AS OF RIGHT NOW, THEY'VE ALREADY PUSHED TENROU INTO A CORNER, AND ARE ON THE VERGE OF WINNING. AFTER THAT, IT'S LIKELY THEY WILL COME TO A COMPROMISE, SINCE THE LOSSES EACH OF THEM SUSTAINED ARE NOT INCONSIDERABLE. THE WAR IS ALREADY AS GOOD AS OVER."

Mitsuki silently heaved a sigh of relief.

"The language spoken there is a dialect of the unified language that we use here on this continent, so communication shouldn't be too difficult. And the port we'll be disembarking at is at the edge of Soukai's territory, so we shouldn't encounter any hostilities, but we should be careful just in case. Incidentally, do any of you have any actual experience in fighting humans?"

They looked at each other with uncomfortable expressions.

Of course they didn't.

All of the training they did was to prepare for battles against monstrosities, not fellow humans.

Other than Ariella, who appeared to have martial arts training, none of them even knew where to begin fighting another person.

"Well…"

The two former Night Raid members sighed.

"No, you don't have to say anything. We can tell just by looking. This…will be a little problematic."

"YEAH. LOOKS LIKE THE TWO OF US WON'T BE ABLE TO ACT CARELESSLY. WE'LL HAVE TO STICK CLOSELY TO THEM."

"W-What do you mean by that?"

"USUALLY, IN ESCORT MISSIONS LIKE THIS, THE BODYGUARDS OUTNUMBER THE CHARGES. WITH GREATER NUMBERS, IT'S EASIER TO PROTECT THE CLIENTS IN THE CASE THAT UNEXPECTED SITUATIONS OCCUR, LIKE AN ENEMY AMBUSH."

Mitsuki could vaguely understand what he meant.

If they were surrounded by enemy forces, the bodyguards could in turn surround their clients to protect them.

The more the better, since additional guards could move to directly engage the enemy.

But, in their case…

"WITH THAT WEAPON, MINE CAN DEFEAT A HUNDRED MEN BY HERSELF, AND THANKS TO THIS BODY, I'M CAPABLE OF CRUSHING ARMIES, BUT…WE'RE NOT ALL SEEING, MUCH LESS ALMIGHTY, SO THERE'S ALWAYS THE POSSIBILITY OF ONE OR TWO IDIOTS SLIPPING PAST US AND…WELL, YOU GET THE IDEA."

Mitsuki shivered.

"Well, it wouldn't be a problem if you knew how to fight, or at least tactically retreat…"

"Hm? Actually…we can fly." Miyako pointed out.

Tatsumi and Mine stared at them.

"…Fly?"

"Yeah. By transmuting Dark Matter, we can generate large volumes of air to lift ourselves off the ground and move around while airborne. The only ones who can't do it are Nee-san and Iris, and we can carry them."

"I SEE…AND THE LARGE VOLUME OF AIR AROUND YOU SHOULD ALSO INTERFERE WITH THE TRAJECTORY OF ANY ARROWS THAT ARE FIRED AT YOU…HOW LONG ARE YOU ALL CAPABLE OF FLYING? CAN YOU ALL DO IT FOR AT LEAST 5 MINUTES?"

Miyako grinned and flashed him a peace sign.

"No prob!"

"I SEE. WELL, I GUESS THAT'S ONE PROBLEM SOLVED."

"In the first place, the region we'll be disembarking in at supposed to be relatively peaceful. The warfronts are further inland. There shouldn't be any problem, except maybe bandits"

"BUT, WE DON'T KNOW HOW FAR INLAND WE'LL BE GOING, RIGHT? SINCE WE NEED TO TRACK THOSE TWO DOWN."

"Wait, you don't actually know where my brother and Akame-san are?"

"THOSE TWO SEND REPORTS DETAILING THEIR DISCOVERIES IN WAKOKU, AND THEIR LOCATION AT THE TIME IS USUALLY INCLUDED OR CAN BE INFERRED, BUT IT'S BEEN ALMOST A MONTH SINCE THE LAST REPORT, SO WE HAVE NO IDEA WHERE THEY ACTUALLY ARE RIGHT NOW, OR WHERE THEY'LL BE BY THE TIME WE GET THERE. BOSS SENT THEM A MESSAGE TELLING THEM ABOUT YOUR VISIT A WEEK AGO, BUT SHE HASN'T GOTTEN A REPLY YET. WELL, IT'S ACROSS THE OCEAN, SO WE PROBABLY CAN'T EXPECT A REPLY SO SOON EVEN IF THEY DO GET IT."

"No contact for a month? Shouldn't that be cause for worry?"

"NAH, IT'S NOT LIKE THEY HAVE A SET SCHEDULE FOR WHEN THEY SEND REPORTS ANYWAY. AND HONESTLY, I CAN'T IMAGINE ANYTHING IN THIS WORLD CAPABLE OF POSING A THREAT TO THOSE TWO. NOT SINCE ESDEATH DIED. I MEAN, WE ARE TALKING ABOUT A WOMAN WHO HAS AN INSTANT DEATH SWORD AND A MAN WHO HAS THE POWER TO FLATTEN ENTIRE CITIES IN MERE SECONDS."

An instant death sword and…the power to destroy cities?

Was he talking about the Teigu that Yuu and Akame had with them?

"Though, considering where they said they would be heading next, maybe a little bit of worry is warranted."

"What do you mean?"

"We said that the southern part of Wakoku is split into 24 countries, right? Since there's a southern part, there's also a northern part. And that's where they said they would be going. And therein lies our problem. Unlike the southern part of the continent, the northern part is completely unexplored territory that even the 24 countries don't dare to approach. Because bordering the two parts of the continent is a massive forest that spans all the way from the western edge to the eastern edge. And supposedly, no one who has entered it has ever returned alive. Apparently, entire armies have been sent in to explore, but not a single soldier made it out."

"A-And that's where they said they would be going!?"

"WELL, NO ONE EVER RETURNED ALIVE, BUT IN THOSE CASES, THEY WERE JUST ORDINARY HUMANS. YUU AND AKAME ARE BOTH STRONG, AND ARE ARMED WITH SOME OF THE GREATEST WEAPONS IN THE WORLD. I DOUBT THEY'LL MEET MUCH TROUBLE. ESPECIALLY NOT FROM A PLACE WITH SUCH A CORNY NAME."

"A…corny name?"

"YEAH, THANKS TO ALL THE DEATHS AND THE RUMORS SURROUNDING IT, THE NATIVES GAVE THE FOREST ONE SERIOUSLY LAME NAME: THE MAN-EATING FOREST."

* * *

Well, this is late as shit.

I have no excuses this time other than a combination of procrastination and Persona 5.

And in the time I took to write this, the first chapter of Akame Ga Kill's sequel, Hinowa Ga Crush, was released.

I was seriously surprised when I read it, because the depiction of the Eastern Territories was exactly how I had initially planned for it to be in this story, with the whole Feudal Japan theme, and that's why I decided to include it in the final draft after all.

Next chapter, Brynhildr Class finally meets up with Yuu and Akame.

However, I cannot say when it will be released.

My exam results have not exactly been stellar lately, and I find that I have been spending too much time on writing stories.

So, I have decided to take a break from writing for now.

If I don't show any improvement, I might have to give up on writing altogether.

I do have a life to live after all, and while I do like writing, I have my own future to think about.

I still have about a month of holidays left, so I will try to finish the next chapter, but no promises.

So, with that, I bid my readers farewell until next time.

As always, please read and review.


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